The Spring Fling Bonspiel was one of the many events at the NexSource Centre during its official grand opening this pastweekend. The two day tournament, running on May 12 and 13, attracted a variety of curlers from across Alberta - all excitedto get out on the ice and slide some stones.
A total of 17 teams, with about half of them coming from out of town gathered at the NexSource Centre, to play in a bonspielthat simultaneously marked a first and a last for the Sylvan Lake Curling Club.
Last weekend’s bonspiel was the first official curling competition held at the NexSource Centre’s curling ice surface, and itwas also the closing game of this year’s season for the Sylvan Lake Curling Club, noted Vice President Bruce Cartwright.
Cartwright said that the weekend entailed some excellent curling on the part of everyone involved, and in his opinion, was agreat way to end the season.
“It was a fantastic mixture of people playing, from Lloydminster to Calgary, from Edmonton to Rocky Mountain House,” saidCartwright. “There was a local junior team that curled, and a couple of senior teams as well. The youngest curler was 10 yearsold, and the oldest was 75. There was a variety of mens, ladies and mixed teams curling together, too.”
In the A-event, Tea Usselman of Rocky Mountain House took first place, while Team Janko, with curlers out of Ponoka and RedDeer took second. In the B-event, Team Zadderey from Calmar took first place, while Team Robley of Sylvan Lake tooksecond. In the C-division, the Rocky Mountain Shooterz, playing out of Calgary, took first place - second place was awardedto Team Brand from Sylvan Lake.
Cartwright noted that it was good to have a bonspiel in May, albeit a bit late in the year.
“We had a small spring season, and curled for about five weeks to try the ice out and get everything tested. We finally gotback curling in Sylvan Lake - it feels great after three years,” said Cartwright, referencing the completion of the newNexSource Centre. “I’m quite happy with how it went. It was great to have a bonspiel this weekend, with many free activitiesgoing on, along with the excellent live entertainment by Ainsley Elisa and several other talented musicians in the ViewpointLounge.”
samuel.macdonald@sylvanlakenews.com