Overall, the Alberta Optimist Juvenile Curling Championship tournament in Coaldale was a great event! It exceeded all expectations --- and required two sets of extra bleachers to accommodate the crowd.
District Governor Tim Bell made it down for the opening Banquet and did a great job of welcoming the teams and discussing the objectives of Optimist International and how Optimists tie into working with groups like the Juvenile curlers.
Unfortunately, Bill Cummer was ill and could not attend the event. But he phoned Roger Hohm, the tournament coordinator, and went over the message he wanted to present at the Closing Ceremonies. Roger was kind enough to present this message at the Closing, speaking on behalf of the Optimists.
The banners of several Optimist Clubs were displayed throughout the event.
The winning Juvenile Men’s Team was the Daylan Vavrek rink from the Dawson Creek Curling Club, who beat the S. Smith rink from the Garrison CC in Calgary 4-3 in the final game.
The winning Juvenile Women’s Team was the Kelsey Rocque rink from the Granite Curling Club in Edmonton; who beat the K. Brown rink from the Airdrie CC 4-2 in the final game.
Both the Daylan Vavrek rink and the Kelsey Rocque rink will now move on to play in the Optimist International U-18 (Juvenile) Curling Championships, March 31 through April 4, at the St. George’s GC in Etobicoke, Ontario; which is about 20 minutes from the Toronto Pearson Airport. This year, participants from 8 Canadian Provinces and 2 Canadian Territories, plus 8 States from the United States, and the country of Japan, will compete in the OI tournament.
Originally submitted by Opt Mike DeNicola
