Ben Lypka
Abbotsford News
History was made inside the Mission Granite Curling Club on Sunday.
Two men’s and two women’s teams qualified for the first-ever BC U18 Curling Championships at the Lower Mainland playdowns at the club on Saturday and Sunday.
Men’s qualifiers included Team Tardi from Langley/Victoria. The team features two members from the winning BC Junior (U21) Men’s team, Tyler Tardi (Cloverdale) and Sterling Middleton (Burnaby). They are joined by Scott Gray and Derek Chandler from Victoria. The team is coached by Paul Tardi.
Team Tardi earned the spot with a 10-2 win on Sunday morning.
The other team to qualify was Team Sato, the fourth-place finishers from the BC Junior Curling Championships. Team Sato, of Cloverdale, Royal City and Coquitlam curling clubs, features Hayato Sato (Coquitlam), Dawson Ballard (Cloverdale), Troy Chong (Burnaby) and Joshua Miki (Port Coquitlam). The team is coached by Bryan Miki and Len Chong.
Team Sato qualified with a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon.
On the U18 girls’ side, the qualifiers included Sarah Daniels from Delta and Sarah Loken from Surrey, with a U18 rink featuring Catera Park (Coquitlam) and Kim Bonneau (Abbotsford). Daniels and Loken achieved silver at the BC Junior Curling Championships earlier this year. The team is coached by Katie Witt.
The Daniels rink earned its spot with a 10-4 win on Sunday afternoon.
The other team to qualify was Team Drexel, who won the curling event at the 2016 BC Winter Games in Penticton. Team Drexel is made up of Heather Drexel (Coquitlam), Everly Royea (Chilliwack), Bailey Burke (Langley), Madeline Britz (Chilliwack) and coach Alan Smith.
Team Drexl punched its ticket with a 8-4 win on Sunday morning.
All four teams head to the BC U18’s, which take place in Nanaimo from March 16 to 19.
Shirley Olsen from the Mission Curling Club said it was a notable event for the club.
“It went very well and having an event like this is good for us as a club,” she said. “It was very well-supported. I was surprised at the level of support because it was the first time we’ve hosted this. The Optimist Club was a huge help for us and really helped support the event.”
Olsen explained that the Optimist Club provided the players with meals before and after games.
The next big events for MCC include the Mission master’s invitational tournament on Jan. 20 and 21 and the men’s bonspiel, which occurs on Feb. 13 and 14.
Olsen added that the BC Masters regional final returns to Mission for 2018.
For full results from the event, visit curlbc.ca.