The season is upon us. Welcome to all the new members and welcome back to our returning members. We are a month into the season and so far it has been a blast. If you have been away at the cottage or just golfing/biking/pickleballing up a storm; and curling has not been the first thing on your mind. Here is what you missed.
We had the new Curling Group (Grand Slam of Curling) in at the beginning of the summer season testing out their streaming equipment. They will be streaming all games this season and they used our backyard as their testing site. They brought in some heavy hitters with Jennifer Jones, Brent Laing, John Epping, Lisa Weagle and our own Jim Wilson. We even had the new CEO Nic Sulsky here overseeing the cool action.
We had a full Youth Camp filled with 48 kids having a fun filled week led by Stephanie Thompson and her awesome team of Oakville Members Helen Garside, Jestyn Murphy, Colsen Flemington and Andrew Skelton.
Our popular summer league saw a record 400 people register for Recreational/Competitive Men’s and Women’s leagues as well as Doubles leagues. Each week brings a new set of opposition and the early rivalries have started. These leagues continue through to Oct 3rd.
The Stu Sells Oakville Tankard had 52 (28 men’s and 24 women’s) teams this year compete for the coveted title as the Stu Sell Tankard champion. We had the likes of Brad Gushue, Bruce Mouat, Ross Whyte, and Andreas Schwaller here as well as Stefania Constantini (Italy), Rebecca Morrison (Scotland) and local favourites Danielle Inglis compete. The final outcome saw a Swiss Sweep as Andreas Schwaller, Benoit Schwartz, Sven Michel and Pablo Lachat defeated Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz in an extra end. Xenia Schwaller and her team of Selina Gafner, Fabienne Rieder and Selina Rychiger defeated Calgary’s Kayla Skrlik in the women’s final. Congrats to all that competed. Special thanks to Rick Brady and his volunteer group who waved the Oakville support flag throughout this event and made it a great success.
This weekend will see the United We Curl bonspiel run for its second spirited year. This event is in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are looking forward to this outstanding event.
Next weekend will see the return of the International Gathering. Rick Brady and his crew have done a miraculous job organizing this event that opens up its doors to curlers from around the globe.
Our club has and is playing host to two U18 events. We had the Jr. Slam Series here the Labour Day weekend and we will have the Stu Sells U18 event here on Thanksgiving Weekend. Combined with the U18 event will be 4 draws of curlers competing in the Stu Sells Toronto. Watch for more details if you would like to stop in and have a second chance to see the World’s best curlers in action at the Oakville Curling Club.
Some changes in the club you will notice when you stop in. We have updated our coffee and registration stations to clean up and make better use of the areas. We have finally cleaned up the Tub Chairs and had them resurfaced in leather. The Women’s locker room will have an additional 22 lockers added to meet the overwhelming demand.
The ice area will have some new life this year. We have mounted our new murals and the official unveiling will taking place during the Open House on Sunday September 22nd at 3pm.
