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ENGLISH CURLING ASSOCIATIONFebruary 2011 - Issue 31

Somet imes the news in th is newsletter is simply that English Curling is growing or that the upcoming competitions will be a good game. However, this edition has it all, news from the 4 Nations, the excitement and fun of the challenge between England, Wales, I r e l a n d a n d S c o t l a n d . T h e camaraderie and fun of an event that put a smile on everyones face. We have the resu l t s o f the Playdowns, Mens, Womens and the long awaited results of the Seniors competition that took over 2 months to complete.

We also have in this edition news of the English team that participated in the Lucerne Masters competition with 3 members of the SECC and one Swiss player in addition to a forecast of the upcoming Doubles World championships in USA.

Wi th In ternat iona l news and upcoming competitions pages this is another bumper edition of the ECA Newsletter.

The Editor

IN THIS EDITION President’s Letter

4 Nations Results

ECA Competition Results Club News

Seniors Results

Upcoming World Doubles World News

:

M. Sutherland 3 : 8 M. McCreadie

S. Fowler 3 : 6 A. McIntyre

J. Brown 7 : 4 J. Carswell

M. Sutherland 5 : 11 M. McCreadie

P. Barton 6 : 3 J. Carswell

Tom Ballantyne Trophy

ECA Medals (Eng) ECA Medals (Sco)

Stephen McClymont

Graeme Maguire

Gerry Crighton

24 32** Scotland Win **

John Brown

Mark Wilkinson

Ross Barr

Charles Murphy

Michael McCreadie

NEWSLETTER

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Sister and Brother Curlers

It seems like no time since I penned you a missive but, in reality, it is a little while so how time flies when you are in the curling season!!!

And where to start……… that is the problem given that there has been so much happening, both on and off the ice.

I will go back to pre-Christmas when, on your behalf, I attended the European Curl ing Championships in Champery, Switzerland. A full report will be given at the AGM in June (please put this advance notice of the AGM date in your diaries – Sunday 12 June, Sheffield), but I will give you a brief flavour of what took place.

On arrival in Champery, none of the literature I had received had mentioned that you had to be a mountain goat to get from the station to the hotel or indeed to get from the A arena to the hotel! My calf muscles haven’t had such a good workout in years! Even more frustrating when you are trying to watch some of the English games in between meetings was the fact that the B arena was at least 30 minutes away! I apologise once again to both teams that I was unable to get to as many games as I would like to have done. The changes in weather in Champery were amazing – from snow to brilliant sunshine; from fog to rain like I have never experienced in my life, not even in the UK and that is saying something!

However one of the main highlights of the Europeans for me was the remarks made by the President of the ECF, Andrew Ferguson-Smith, at the main meeting of the ECF. To say that they were inflammatory is an understatement; to say that he is working in isolation is an understatement and to say that he has antagonised the World Curling Federation is really an understatement!!! It will be fascinating to see what unfolds when I attend the meetings in Denmark next month.

Before I knew it, it was January which meant that the 4 Nations was looming – the first time that this event has been held in England for 20 years. Much has been voiced about this event both on the run up as well as afterwards. If you happened to have been living in Mars during this period of time, then checkou t Bob Cowan ’s b l og on h t t p : / /skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com where you will find many articles leading up to the weekend, the weekend itself and photos. It has been said before by ECA Secretary John Brown but for the record, I would just like to re-iterate his comments:

“At no time were the ECA ever intent on showing up the RCCC or causing them or certain individuals to suffer some of the name calling and vitriolic comment appearing on other Fora. Yes, we were disappointed by the RCCC’s late decision not to send a team but with the other countries having already booked flights and hotels, with the ice booked for the whole weekend and with a dinner and band booked, we had to run a viable competition or lose a lot of friends and money.”

As far as I am concerned, this is now yesterday’s news and we move on. The weekend was a truly great success and I would like to take the opportunity of thanking once again those individuals who worked so hard in preparing for and running the weekend – Steve Scanlan, John Brown, Sandra Moorcroft, James Hustler, Phil Barton, Susan Young and James Gibb. My thanks also go to Alison and Ross Barr, Robin Gemmell, Mark Wilkinson and Charles Murphy for their support in the kitchen when the natives were getting really hungry. Ernest Fenton and his team provided additional support both on and off the ice which was greatly appreciated.

Again I will report more fully at the AGM, but as it was pointed out to me at the ECA Championships in Greenacres, England now have set the standard for the 4 Nations and that bar is really quite high! I thoroughly enjoyed the organisation but at the same time am very glad it is not England’s turn to host for another 4 years! In the meantime, you can catch up with all the results on John Brown’s blog which can be accessed via the link already mentioned above.

Continued over....

ALISON ARTHUR

PRESIDENTENGLISH CURLING ASSOCIATION

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So in a blink of an eye I was up in Scotland for the English Championships being held at Greenacres. It was rewarding to see so many familiar faces and to meet up with old friends giving me the opportunity to actually watch some curling!

My congratulations go to both the winning teams who will represent England in the Europeans being held in Moscow in December:

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, t h e d e c i d i n g g a m e o f t h e M e n ’s S e n i o r Championships was also played.

I wish all our teams every success in the USA and will watch their progress with interest.Prior to that, I will be going to Denmark towards the end of March to attend WCF meetings on your behalf and will report back fully at the AGM .

All in all it has been a busy period for your President but nothing is possible without your support for which I thank you!

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your curling season.

Best wishesAlison J L ArthurPresident

I am taking the opportunity of hoping that the Editor has some space to put a few thoughts together. I am not going to be at the AGM in June – having a second trip to the States. (On this occasion a long planned trip for dear friend’s 80th birthday).

It has been a great year – especially because of the Four Nations event. We might not have held onto as many trophies but we certainly put English curling on the map. I am sure that the event will be well reported by others. It was great to be part of the team. Thank you to everyone who took part.

It has also been great year because we had a super inaugural Duncan Stewart Trophy.

I hope it will be played in Kent next year.

It has been a disappointing year because there has not been as much support for some events from certain quarters – I know we can expect a lot but only two curlers from Glendale and one f rom Preston at the Four Nations. The strength of English curling will come form a wider spread of curling across the country – and maintaining areas of curling heritage.

A major problem is repeated each year when we have to book ice in advance for the major events – hoping that we have guessed correctly. In many cases this works out wel l because the ice rinks (thanks to all ice rink managers) are flexible

and want to do the best for us. On occasions in spite of the best efforts we are left with a programme that is not balanced and so can give a rink an unfair advantage over another. This was quite clear at the Playdowns in February. (Apologies to the players and umpire for the congestion especially on day one). Can we be more confident and book ice in advance – it could be used by supporters for ‘friendly games’ if there are insufficient entries, rather than the ECA pick up the extra cost of unused ice.

I must end on a positive – English curling is in good health – just look at the juniors coming through to represent our country.

Thoughts from the Competitions Convenor - Phil Barton

Bob Cowan Curling BlogIt was a thrill to have Bob report on the Four Nations event in January. You must make sure you read the blog – it is written and produced with the high quality you would expect from the former editor of Scottish Curler.

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4 Nations Competition

Phew! (a John Brown article)

In addition to all the reporting from Bob on his blog from Fenton’s here are just a few thoughts from me on what was a successful weekend.

A lot has been written and said about the actions of the RCCC with respect to their selection policy and then the decision (later overturned) to withdraw their trophies from the competition. Ultimately this had no effect on the actual running of the weekend as we still had to deal with four teams curling, eating, drinking, needing transporting to and from airports and hotels.

Obviously it had an effect on how I used my time in the run up to the weekend, at least until the Scottish team had organised themselves, as it meant that I had an additional task of trying to raise a team to fill the gap which had appeared in our schedule.

At no time were the ECA ever intent on showing up the RCCC or causing them or certain individuals to suffer some of the name calling and vitriolic comment appearing on other Fora. Yes, we were disappointed by the RCCC’s late decision not to send a team but with the other countries having already booked flights and hotels, with the ice booked for the whole weekend and with a dinner and band booked, we had to run a viable competition or lose a lot of friends and money.

As president, secretary and competitions convenor of the ECA for many years combined I have often had to struggle to raise teams for the Four Nations when it is held in Scotland because of previous commitments and the time and cost elements so I can appreciate the difficulties which the RCCC had at this busy time of year. The difference may have been what each of us then did when the usual channels were not successful. I am not ashamed to say that in years past I have used Scottish friends living locally to the venue of the event to bolster the English teams (and also to help out the Welsh and Irish teams)!

What this year has done is, and it may be only temporarily, to raise the profile of the Four Nations so that for at least next year there will be a lot more scrutiny about how the teams are selected, particularly in Scotland. What is important is to

know that the Four Nations is not one competition, it is simply a convenient way of packaging seven individual trophies into a time and money saving package – but it works. I am sure that the four of us will sit down or hold conference calls to decide on the future of the weekend in the light of this year’s events.

While the happenings of the last month will continue to have a high profile in Scotland, as far as the ECA is concerned what is done is done and we can look back on a very successful weekend. We raised a lot of money for the Make-A–Wish charity from our raffle – approx £1300 I believe and the first prize of the laptop was won by Ross Barr (ENG), the £100 M and S voucher went to Richard Pougher (WAL) and the third prize of a silver necklace to Catriona Cooper of Scotland – all very equitable so far. Unfortunately for the Irish the fourth prize of a bottle of brandy went to Bob Cowan! The Irish team apparently only bought green tickets but only one was drawn out throughout the whole raffle which featured more than 20 other prizes.

The shot of the weekend was undoubtedly Lana Watson’s draw to lie three within the four foot against Scotland which pinched the Connie Miller Trophy back from Scotland, but it is also pertinent to say that in the next session she took seven at one end off an Irish team skipped by…….no that would be unfair – he knows who he is!

My apologies also for the lack of scores on any website owing to an administrative cock-up involving cooks and soup – and not the ones producing the stovies, toasties and breakfast rolls!

As to who won – well all the countries won at least something but interestingly six of the seven trophies changed hands this year and only one was retained by last year’s winners. The Irish were the most successful, winning all three of their contests but only by the smallest margin of one shot against England and Wales and relatively comfortably by seven shots v Scotland. Wales beat England and Scotland, England won one (the Connie Miller Trophy v Scotland) and Scotland won one (the Tom Ballantyne Trophy v England).

So on the whole a successful weekend but one that I am glad we do not have to repeat for four years!

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Quotes:

“What a fantastic event, I can honestly say that i never heard one gripe or complaint and believe it or not EVERYONE complimented the ice maker on excellent ice. A fantastic event where everyone met up with old friends and made new ones. Thank you everyone who attended for making it a great event.”

“Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome I received this weekend. And I'm chuffed that I have now thrown some stones myself at England's curling rink!”

“I am pleased to verify that it was an AWESOME weekend, with the boys (ed. Scottish) bringing home the Biggie and the girls having us all standing on the edge of the rink watching the breath taking last couple of tense ends. They were finally undone by a couple of world class draws from Lana (ed. Watson), the English skip.”

“I can re-iterate it was a special weekend. I think the fact that most players were staying in adjacent hotels and late resident bars always helps!!! The Scottish team (including outwick) were outstanding ambassadors for you on and off the ice!!

I would like to make use of your forum to congratulate and commend our Irish team. Our worldwide membership is currently less than 100 (increasing steadily though) yet we managed to get volunteers instantly when we asked at our AGM last April despite the travel involved. Our squad was down to the bare minimum by the weekend with several players playing back to back sessions (and I would,without being indelicate, add that we had the most "mature" squad). Yet somehow we managed to win all three trophies we competed for. To us the four nations is not about winning trophies but like all curlers we like to win... and when we do it is a nice bonus. My thanks to all the Irish team!”

4 Nations - FeedbackFrom the scottish Curling Forum

Dear John,

Now that I have (almost) come back down to earth, I felt that I had to make contact again just to thank you for making us all feel so welcome last weekend in Tunbridge Wells. The tournament was extremely well organised and you and your organising committee should rightly feel proud of what was achieved over the course of the weekend.

When I arrived home on Sunday night, I described the weekend to my wife as the greatest experience of my life - and yes, there was a strange look in her eye as she received that particular piece of information!! I never imagined that I would ever have the opportunity to represent my country in any discipline but to have done so in the sport that I hold dearest to my heart was an honour and a privilege, regardless of the circumstances. The atmosphere, the competition and the camaraderie amongst all the participants was on a level that I have not experienced before and I simply cannot say enough good things about the whole weekend.

Anyway, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate. It is something that I will not forget as long as I live. Please pass on my sentiments and warmest regards to all concerned. I hope that our paths cross again sometime in the future. Same time next year, perhaps...?

All the best

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4 nations 2011 - ResultsThis was an exciting, enticing competition that was thoroughly enjoyed by all players and spectators alike. One Scottish player stated that he has 'not played on ice as good as this all year’, another stated that the dancing was wonderful at the Saturday night dinner dance. One Irish contestant stated that this was the best run competition they “had ever been to” and with some free meals, transport to and from airports and hotels to the rink, a free drink on the Friday and a wonderful sprit across all games made the weekend it was a total success.

The Raffle raised a staggering £1270 from the 80 competitors with a top prize of a Fujitsu Laptop (provided by Fujitsu) there was much competition and pressure to buy tickets. All in all this was a well run, well represented and well played competition enjoyed by everyone.

The ECA would like to thank all players for making it such a success in addition to Ernest Fenton for use (and abuse) of his facilities and to the ice maker who made such exceptionally good ice for the event. Our thanks also go to Alison and her excellent team of committed volunteers in making this event happen. Next Year the competition is hosted by Wales and will take place in Greenacres, watch out nearer the time for more information.

RESULTS

Tom Ballantyne Trophy England 24 : 32 Scotland

** Scotland Win **

Connie MillerEngland 13 : 12 Scotland

** England Win **

TurnBull CupEngland 31 : 32 ireland

** Ireland Win **

Kay TrophyEngland 15 : 36 Wales

** Wales Win **

Marshall Millennium TrophyIreland 30 : 23 Scotnad

** Ireland win **

Meikle Trophy Ireland 23 : 22 Wales

** Ireland Win **

Big Bertha StoneScotland 23 : 27 Wales

** Wales Win **

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Masters curling tournaments for players over sixty years of age are held very widely throughout Canada and considerably in Scotland. However, Switzerland also has an established masters system which they call ‘ tournoi des veterans.’ One such annual event is at Lausanne’s five-sheet curling rink, originator of the well-known Schenkel scoring system used across Europe ( named after Roland Schenkel ). A twenty-team event, this was the first time a team from England participated at the bonspiel. Our crew comprised Ian MacDonald ( English ), Ivan Zadorozny ( Canadian, resident in England ), Jim Marmont ( same as Ivan ) and, Swiss resident player Hans-Peter Hefti. The combined age of our team was 274 years. Hans-Peter had skipped his team to win the 2004 tournament. We hoped that would be to our advantage. However, to make a long story short, we did not ‘shine’ in Lausanne. We lost our four games 8-4, 7-4, 7-5 and 8-3. With long-standing leg problems, after lumbering my two lead stones down the ice I held the broom in

the house while others swept. I personally accept if not for this last-minute development we would have won games. The summer will be spent medically mitigating this issue, as well as accepting I have to use a delivery stick at times. Nonetheless, the participation, fun and social aspects of the event were significant. We were cheered when introduced as an inaugural team from England. And, this was not our f irst appearance in Swi tzer land, hav ing p layed p r e v i o u s l y i n G e n e v a a n d Interlaken. The Lausanne club, which sits on shores of beautiful Lake Geneva, facilitated our short walk to the International Olympic Museum. Inundated with many displays, the small curling exhibit comprises an old curling stone, t w o b r o o m s s i g n e d b y Switzer land’s Olympic Gold Medalists ( 1998 ) and a video with Canadian players clearly yelling “ hurry hard.” There are very, very few regular players in England over sixty years of age. But we intend upon re tu rn ing to the Lausanne veterans event in 2012 with a full four players from England. There is also a comparable veterans tournament at Geneva’s six-sheet club in October, 2012. There are p lans to en te r tha t even t . Furthermore, upon my inquires to both John Brown and the Director of Competitions at the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, there should not be any problems with

England-based players entering the Scottish National Masters Championships. This is due to situation of ECA’s relationship with RCCC, as well as a fact that no W C F W o r l d M a s t e r s Championship exists at which a winner would have to represent Scotland. Additionally, the International Masters Games Associat ion ( http://www.imga.ch/ ) held its first World Winter Masters Games in Slovenia during January, 2010 where 3500 athletes participated in several events. While curling was not one of them, the game is planned to be on the schedule for January, 2014 World Winter Masters Games. The International Masters Summer ( held since 1986 ) and Winter Games are endorsed by the International Olympic Committee. They also draw more participants than the International Olympic Games. Their only qualification for entry, ( in five-year age groupings from 45 – 90+ ) is ‘passion for sport.’ Hence, for those ‘oldies’ who want to concentrate on curling in age-related ‘masters’ tournaments, plenty of opportunities exist. To an extent, in the curling world, life begins at sixty. Jean-Jacques (Jim) Marmont

February 7th, 2011.

16th TOURNAMENT OF VETERANS,LAUSANNE OLYMPIQUE CURLING CLUB,

1st -2nd February, 2011.

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ECA SENIORS NEWS

You will have heard – and read if you keep up with Toothy Tales in Bob Cowans Curling blog that E n g l a n d h a v e a n e w r i n k representing the ECA at the World Men’s Senior Championships. Perhaps we better qualify ‘new’ – as three of the team have played at the Worlds before- with Michael Sutherland leading the tally. It is a new rink in that the four ‘elderly’ chaps have only joined together this season. In fact they have a fair experience of international curling.

Michael Sutherland came out of international ‘retirement’ to skip the team. Tommy Campbell – a

wel l known ‘kent ’ face in Scotland but definitely born in England is an experienced third – with one World championship under his belt – the inaugural event in Bismarck. John Summers is the new boy , representing the English thanks to a Manchester born Mum. John is a great guy – providing balance and enthusiasm to any team. Finally Phil Barton is at l e a d , h i s t w o p r e v i o u s experiences at the Worlds were alternate and third. He is very proud of his Cumbrian heritage. To add to the experience John Brown has agreed to be fifth man.

T h e t e a m g a i n e d t h e i r qualification for the World Seniors in St Paul, USA after a final match v John Brown. As John rightly pointed out in his blog this ends John MacDougall’s tremendous and in fact unique run of attending all World Championships to date. Regulars at the event will miss him. We should be very hopeful that from now there will be stiff competition to represent the ECA at the World’s. The first playdown weekend was contested in serious fashion.

WORLD SENIORS ST PAUL

The event starts on Saturday 16th April with practice and then the main action begins on the Sunday. The men are in on eof three 7 man sections. Six round robin games await them in order:

• Sun: Hungary, USA• Mon: Japan• Tues: Netherlands• Wed: France• Thurs: Scotland.• Quarter finals are set up for the top 8 from the three sections.

Of course we must remember that Sandra Moorcroft is taking her first shot at the Worlds with Susan Young, Alison Barr and Jean Robinson. The ladies have a bigger challenge in that they play 10 matches before semi finals.

• Sun: Scotland; USA• Mon: Japan; New Zealand• Tues: Canada: Switzerland• Wed: Czeck Rep• Thurs: Russia: Sweden• Fri: Ireland

The Scottish representatives were decided on 13th Feb.Ken Horton skips the men from Greenacres (Reform CC)And Linda Young takes charge of the ladies based at Kinross.

We finish the event with finals on Saturday – a dream to be realised to be still playing on Friday afternoon and beyond. There will be no doubt that this will be a tremendous event meeting old friends and new.

And we must not forget our Mixed doubles champions – Jane Clark and John Sharp who will also be at the event.

By Phil Barton

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Just 10 days after all the foreigners had been seen off the premises following the 4 Nation,s the ECA’s second biggest event of the season – the English Championships - began at Greenacres. The 5 men’s teams, playing a double round robin, began on Thursday lunchtime, but they would be nearly half way through their schedule before the 2 women’s teams joined in for their best-of-5 rubber on Friday evening.

Alan MacDougall, Jamie Malton, James Dixon, Neil Maycock and Ben Fowler were the male skips while Fiona Hawker and Sandra Moorcroft skipped the women.

Alan MacDougall, the defending champion and favourite, got off to the best of starts with a 4 at the first end against Neil Maycock and he was never seriously troubled as he raced to a 15-6 victory after 8 ends. Meanwhile the two teams expected to offer the best challenge to Alan, Jamie Malton and James Dixon (skipping the Bruce Bowyer team after finishing second with that line-up at the previous weekend’s Haggis competition), were involved in a close struggle which eventually Dixon won by 6-4.

Session 2 introduced Ben Fowler and his fellow junior, Harry Mallows, to the Championships and in a switchback of a game they were unlucky to lose 9-10 to Neil Maycock after being 9-7 up after 9. Alan MacDougall had another emphatic victory over James Dixon who shook hands after 6 ends with the score at 7-1 to Alan. So already the leading challengers had both lost a game and things were looking good for the defending champions.

Session 3 and the MacDougall team were on a bye as Dixon and Malton both won, Dixon by 7-5 over Maycock, helped by a run of 4 singles, and Malton more easily by 10-3 against Fowler who was unable to repeat the form of the previous evening.

The next session is quickly dealt with – Malton beat Maycock 13-1 and MacDougall beat Fowler 15-4 but this then leads us to the third and last session of the day on Friday – and the closest and longest game of the weekend!! The session began at 2045 and finished nearly at midnight as Ben Fowler and James Dixon slugged it out. The other game in the session had seen Alan MacDougall deal Jamie Malton a serious blow to his Championship challenge by beating him 7-5 and so James Dixon needed to win this one to keep that one win ahead of Malton and be in prime position to attack Alan MacDougall over the weekend.

And he started off well and led 6-1 after 5 ends but then “one of those ends” happened and before he knew it he had lost a 5 as Ben Fowler produced two great shots. Dixon nosed ahead with a single at the 7th but then lost a 3 at the 8th. However he then won the 3 back at the 9th before Ben Fowler levelled the game and forced the extra end which a last stone hit and stick secured for Dixon as the weary spectators prayed he would not roll out and force a 12th end!!

So by the end of Friday and after the first complete round robin it was MacDougall on 4 wins, Dixon on 3, Malton on 2, Maycock on 1 and Fowler on 0.

The second half of the competition was due to begin at 0830 on the Saturday but an extra hour was found from some ice cancellations and the weary warriors trooped back on at 0930. The key game in this session was that between MacDougall and Dixon as a win for the former would open up a two win cushion between him and the chasing pack. And so while Malton sent Maycock off after 7 ends for an early bath after an 11-3 win, all attention turned to sheet A and a thrilling game that was all square after 6 ends (3-3) and 8 ends (5-5) and which hinged on a 9th end where a complete miss by MacDougall gave Dixon a stolen 1 and a one shot advantage going down the tenth, but without the hammer.

Probably not the best position to be in and so it proved as MacDougall was eventually left with a straight draw to the rings for 2 and the game and a buffer between him and the opposition. Now he would have to lose both of his remaining games to take the competition to a tie break.

The first of those two games was in theory going to be the easier – against winless Ben Fowler, but it proved to be a tough battle only won by running the opposition out of stones deep into the 10th end and by a 6-4 scoreline. In the other game Neil Maycock’s team (now skipped by John Brown) went down 4-9 to James Dixon.

And so to session 8 and would we see the crowning of the champion – a simple win would do and this was achieved by 8-4 against John Brown, though once again the first half of the game was close and finished at 4-3 before Alan stole a couple of 2s to make things safe. It was irrelevant therefore that Jamie Malton finished with a repeat 10-3 win over Ben Fowler.

Continued Over.......

ECA CHAMPIONSHIPSJohn Brown

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ECA Championships... Continued....

So an unbeaten campaign gave Alan MacDougall, Andrew Reed, Andrew Woolston and Tom Jaeggi their second championship in a row and they will head to Moscow in December hoping to improve on their 21st place in Champery.

Fiona Hawker and Anna Fowler first played together last year and they continued their partnership this year as one of only 2 entries for the women’s Championship. After 8 years of representing England at the Europeans KIrsty Balfour had not entered and Fiona’s opposition came from the team that will

represent England at the World Seniors in St Paul in April, skipped by Sandra Moorcroft who plays lead stones while Susan Young throws last stones.

The fomat was a best-of-5 rubber but only 3 games were necessary as Fiona won 13-1, 15-9 (12-6 after 5 ends!) and 14-4. Included in her team is Angharad Ward who will become the youngest player to represent England in a major International Championships at the age of just 16 years and 4 months. The 4th player in the team is Debbie Hutcheon.

Welsh Curling NewsSome of you may have heard that the Welsh Curling Association are in discussion to create a curling venue – separate from the current ice skating and hockey venue. It is an exciting prospect. It may even mean that Preston Curling Club will consider using the facility one night per week. That should open the prospect of curling to people who at the moment cannot take a full day out on Thursdays through the season.

We look forward to more news from Wales.

International News

Olympic Silver Medalist Rink moves in new DirectionThe Canadian Rink skipped by Cheryl Bernard has decided to split after a successful bid in the Olympics and winning a Silver Medal. Cheryl said;

After six wonderful seasons together, Team Bernard has decided it’s time to move in a new direction: “At the conclusion of the 2010-11 curling season in April, we will part ways as teammates, but not as lifelong friends who shared an amazing experience together. While we are not ruling out curling competitively next season with different teams, there are no firm plans at the present".

Glynhill InvitationalIt was all set up for the final Mirjam Ott, 2010 Glynhill champion, against Anna Hasselborg from Sweden. The Swedes had a one shot lead after five ends but end six was the winning end. The Hasselborg team got stones in the house, Mirjam tried as hard as she could for freezes but every Swiss stone got put through the back, with her last stone of the end Hasselborg had a tap back for three shots and a four shot lead.

Ott got two back in end seven cutting the defecit to two shots. Team Hasselborg made no mistakes in the final end, Ott stole a single but it wasn’t enough. Anna Hasselborg, Sabina Kraupp, Agnes Knochenhauer and Zandra Flyg won the Glynhill Ladies’ International.

PS Anna and Agnes Knochenhauer are World Junior Champions.Courtesy of Bob Cowans Blog at http://skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com

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Glendale’s curling season got off to a flying start with the first club competition starting on the 6th Oct. The Invitation Bonspiel was the first of our weekend bonspiels held on 13th November where a member of our club invites a member from another club to play for the night, it is always a well supported night with a supper laid on afterwards, a raffle and a special auction courtesy of one of the clubs biggest supporters, Scottish Fuels.

The next bonspiel was to be the Jim Wilson Bonspiel this is a great way to encourage players to play in a different position than they are used to, this is how it works, teams are drawn on the night and there is a lead, 2, 3 and a skip but after the first end you all move up a place, so lead becomes 2 and so on…it’s a great way for lead players to have a go a skipping, unfortunately this year the 2 and half feet of snow that fell on us meant that the competition had to be cancelled, never mind there is always next year!

December saw the start of the Open competition, the only competition in Glendale where you choose who you curl with, this is still in full swing and ends on 4th March. On 29th January we had a come and try night, this was very well supported, we had a fantastic turnout from non-curlers and some potential new members, a supper and raffle was laid on afterwards and the whole night was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Last Wednesday the 9th saw Glendale’s annual points competition held at Kelso, this is always good fun but can be tricky for a novice like me as I have enough trouble aiming at a brush let alone not having anything to aim at…still, it was a good night even though I did come last (I always do)…note to self, must try to pass at the AGM this year a booby prize for the points competition!!!!!

The middle of March sees the start of Glendale’s last club competition which will end the season for us on the 23rd March. The 12th of March will see the mixed pairs competition held at Kelso, always good fun although men to women ratio can be stretched but that just adds to the fun!!

So in a nutshell that is Glendale’s Curling Season, it all rounds up with the AGM and then the Dinner and Prize giving in April and May respectively and then after that’s all over the secretary has a well earned rest before writing next years programme!! Phew!

Glendale Curling Club

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Former  World  Champion  wins  Kent  Curling  Event

Former  world  champion  and  Team  GB  performance  director,  Mike  Hay  and  a  mixed  Sco<sh  rink  took  the  Glenfarclas  S>ll  as  winners  of  the  Anniversary  Bonspiel  held  at  Fenton’s  Rink  in  Kent  on  6th  and  7th  November.    Other  team  members  were  Kenny  Kinnear,  Jill  MacDonald  and  Karen  Strang.    AMer  his  win,  Mike  complimented  the  rink  on  its  fast,  consistent  ice  throughout  the  weekend.  Beaten  in  the  final  game  was  Jamie  Malton’s  2009  English  Champions  rink  as  they  prepare  to  regain  their  crown  later  this  season.

Ten  teams  took  part  in  the  compe>>on,  including  two  from  Spain,  both  in  training  for  their  upcoming  Championships.    One  group  was  from  the  Bilbao  region  and  the  other  from  Valencia.    Spanish  curlers  now  make  regular  visits  to  the  Kent  rink  as  it  is  easy  to  reach  –  and  the  opportuni>es  to  curl  on  decent  ice  in  Spain  are  few  and  far  between.  

 Commen>ng  on  the  weekend,  rink  owner  Ernest  Fenton  said  “It  was  a  pleasure  to  see  such  a  high  standard  of  play  throughout  the  compe>>on,  with  many  >ght  games.    I  was  par>cularly  pleased  to  see  our  local  Junior  men’s  and  women’s  teams  holding  their  own  in  such  a  compe>>ve  environment.”

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Preston Curling Club

NEW ECA Website

Have you visited the ECA website lately? If not, why not, we have recently undertaken an update to the website and over the coming seasons it will bring you up to date with the latest events, competitions, results and workings of the ECA and beyond. Additionally it will keep you up to date on major events in the curling world. So if you have not visited please pop along and see what is new.

Remember!! The English Curling Forum is now .net, yes, DOT NET. Don’t be forgetting now.

The club are enjoying a good season at Lockerbie. The four skips have shared honours. Since the New Year Phil Barton won the Jubilee Cup on 6th January with two wins. He was also best up skip against Dalbeattie on 20th January, however Dalbeattie won back the trophy after three years. They had a couple of convincing wins. As usual we enjoyed our high tea afterwards – a reminder that curling is not just about what happens on the ice. Last week the President’s rinks outplayed the Vice President’s r i nks w i th a 20 sho t marg in v i c to ry. Congratulations to Jim Aitken and Phil Atherton.

We have three matches left this season. Our inaugural North v South match on 24th Feb. We are excited to have four players from the Lakeland curling fraternity join us, and old friends from Inverkeithing in Fife. The link with the Lakeland curlers ius developing – did you know there are a few dozen curlers living in England. The Club secretary is working hard to bring them into the ECA fold.

On 3rd March we have our annual challenge v Wales. We hope to do something about our defeats at the Four Nations! Finally we play for the Atherton Trophy on 17th March. This is followed by our AGM.

We elect our new President this year - and as we are generally very friendly and far from rebellious we expect Ian Sayers our current vice President to step up to the top job.Future events

Preston Club Dinner ands awards - Friday 25th MarchA super night meeting some of our former curlers who still like to keep in touch.

Finally do not forget to get an entry into the I’Anson event on weekend of 19th – 21st Nov 2011 – a wonderful curling occasion at the North west Castle Hotel, Stranraer.We have already had five entries confirmed.

Would you like your advert here?

Did you realise the circulation of this magazine is now over 500 keen curlers each edition and rising rapidly. If you would like to see your advert here then contact the editor - it is better value than you think.

Advertising space available from 1/4 to a full page, your design and colour’s, multiple editions available at very very competitive prices.

6 editions; 1/4 Page £5 1/2 Page £10 Full Page £25

[14]

First English Province and Preston Curling Club

Invite you to take part in the annual (over 100 years of history)

I’Anson Competitionat the North West Castle Hotel, Stranraer

Friday 18th to Sunday 20th November 2011

Great competition and curling. Four wonderful trophies. Super prizes – a memorable weekend.

£40 per rink entry + approx £110 per person inc 2 nights accommodation Dinner, Breakfast and curling

‘I always make sure the date is one of the first in my diary’‘It is my favourite curling weekend of the year’ ‘Brilliant value’‘The North West Castle is a hotel of high quality, the food is exceptional – and you get curling as well!’

First 16 rinks get a place – so don’t miss your chance …Contact Phil Barton, Secretary Preston Curling Club for more information or to enter.Tel: 01383 860125 (h) 07920030614 (m) phil.barton@starleyhall.co.uk

Entry Form on Next Page

[15]

Want to buy a Pair of Curling shoes?

Then why not shop at the ECA’s partners at;www.curlingSupplies.com. Contact us at the ECA first if you are a member and enjoy 5% discount on your purchase.

First English Province and Preston Curling Club

I’Anson Competitionat the North West Castle Hotel, Stranraer

Fri 18th - Sun 20th Nov 2011

Skip:Curling Club:Contact details:Address:

Email

Tel (h): Tel (m):

Names of other members of rink:(There are no restrictions in rink order or membership – can be all male/female /mixed in any ratio)3:2:1:

The entrance fee is £40 per rink. Please send cheque payable to Preston Curling Club with entry. Ice charges are included in the accommodation charges paid to the hotel. Non residents are liable to pay ice charges.

If you have not played before please let us know how you heard about the event.

Please note that you require to book your own accommodation at the North West Castle. (please refer to the I’Anson event) Tel: 01776 704413

Early entries are appreciated (to make sure you get a place!) Contact Phil Barton for more information.21 Inch Avenue, Aberdour, Fife KY3 0TFTel: 01383 860125 (h) 079200 30614 (m) or phil.barton@starleyhall.co.uk Fax: 01383 860956

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Well , we’ve been for tunate enough to win the ECA mixed doubles again. Having been to Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2010, we now have a bit of a cultural change in April 2011, visiting the good old USA. Mixed Doubles and Seniors are being held together as they were last year in Russia, so we’ll be there together w i t h S a n d r a M o o r c r o f t ’ s unchallenged senior ladies team and the long awaited senior mens champions, Michael Sutherland’s team.

The schedule is out and the draw is out and it’s a toughie. It’s a world championship, why would you expect anything else. 3 sections of 8, with the top 2 in each section qualifying for quarter finals together with the best 2 of the third placed teams. Look at the teams in our section. This is not for the weak, infirm, elderly (eeek) or partying types!!

Day 1 Practice day and we’re first on at 8am. Hmmm....... Jane’s already lined up a party the night before!!

Day 2 It all kicks off at 11.30 and our first game is Italy. There are only 2 mixed doubles games to open (us and Canada v Denmark also from our section), the other 6 sheets being used for the seniors opening games. This will feel a bit strange as we’re on time clocks (seniors are not) and we have the hog line electronic eyes. Now I didn’t think the seniors had these but I have no idea how they will manage the stones or move them around as both competitions are spread across all 8 sheets so maybe all sets of stones are wired up to make it easier to manage.

We have played Italy in each of the last 2 years and been beaten both times by their youngsters. Will this be any better? Italy now have Canadian coach Dan Rafael

h e l p i n g t h e m ( p r e v i o u s l y responsible for a lot of major success with the Chinese teams, particularly the Ladies), so they are likely to be even stronger. But the latest we know is that they have a scheduling problem, having set the dates for their own n a t i o n a l m e n s a n d l a d i e s championships in April when their mixed doubles champions are due in St. Paul so we don’t know who they will be sending.

Day 3 Second game against Canada at 8am on the first session. Again they are sending a c o u p l e f r o m t h e i r m i x e d championship winning team, the Prince Edward Island province team skipped by Robert Campbell.

A long wait for the third game at 21.30 against Slovakia. No idea who their champions are, but they have a team in Budapest in mid March where we are off to practice (see below).

Day 4 T h e r e i g n i n g w o r l d champions from Russia at 15.00. They won’t be sending the same team we hear. Given their success last year they will not be a weak team.

Day 5 Switzerland at 14.30. They were champions in 2008 and 2009 but we think Tony Mueller and Irene Schori are not playing. At the time of writing they have not held their championships yet.

Day 6 A Scandinavian sort of day starting with Denmark at 11.30. The i r champ ions l ook l i ke Madeleine Dupont and Mikkel Krause, both young yet hugely expe r i enced , K rause mos t recently as runner up in the European championships and Dupont being an Olympian at Vancouver and already having p a r t i c i p a t e d i n 7 w o r l d championships.

Last game against Norway at 21.30. We hear their Ladies champion Linn Githmark has been asked to play but has found no partner yet.

We are off to Budapest in mid March by way of practice and this is the third year of this event, which is getting stronger and attracting more countries each year. This time we are in a group of Romania, the Hungarian champions, the husband and wife team of Gyorgy Nagy and Ildiko Szekeres, world runners up in 2009, and the Russian No. 1 team (we assume their champions), so this will be hard going, but that’s why we’re there.

This is the third year we have at tended th is event. The Hungarians are great hosts and we always look forward to going to their 2 sheet rink as they are extremely well organised and run this to full WCF standards with practice time, draw shot challenge and time clocks to boot.

Our coach (Jane’s dad) is still trying to decide whether he can make it to St. Paul or not. He was stranded in Scotland last year with the Welsh and Scots so never made Chelyabinsk. Maybe he’s hedging his bets as he’s seen Canada, Switzerland, Russia, Norway in our section and can f o r e s e e a v e r i t a b l e bloodbath.............it could be worse, Scotland at least are in another group!

But we’re ready – flights booked, hotel booked, all form filling done, kit being printed up.

Well, whatever happens, we’ll enjoy our visit to St. Paul.

John Sharp and Jane ClarkFebruary 2011

2011 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships - PreviewSt. Paul, Minnesota, USA

[17]

COMPETITION

Photo’s courtesy of Gary Tapp

Upcoming Competitions

ECA Competition Programme 2010-11

Mixed Fentons 4-6 March

 

WCF Competition Programme 2010-2011

World Wheelchair Prague 21/2 – 3/3World Junior Perth 5/3 – 13/3World Womens Esbjerg 19/3 – 27/3World Mens Regina 2/4 – 10/4World Mixed Doubles St Paul 16/4 – 24/4World Senior St Paul 16/4 – 24/4

[18]

Upcoming Competitions

ECA Keeps Tabs on Bonspiels

The ECA website now has a

section for upcoming bonspiels

and games, so if you are

looking for a game take a look

at the Upcoming Competitions

page HERE. We will list all

games we get to hear about so

tell us if you know of an

upcoming competition.

Look out for the ECA on Facebook - follow us and learn what is happening

in English Curling in real time

Moray - 16th April 2010Ok here we gothe 2010 Moray International Bonspiel date has been set for Saturday 17th to the Sunday the 18th of April 2010. We are going for 20 teams again this year. Will be putting a closing date on for team names and deposit as well to book your place. Deposit will be £100 per team.

Teams will be guaranteed 4 games.

The social side of the weekend will start with a get together at the hotel for the teams on 16th April then on to a local pub to meet up with everyone else who can’t make it to the hotel. Then on to night club for the party people of the group.

After the last game on Saturday there will be a dinner at the hotel which will be paid for in the entry fee for the bonspiel. And then after that it'll be back to the local pub's and night club again.

The Crerar Eight Acres Hotel will be the main hotel again this year. For you’s that dont know it has a swimming pool, sauna and gym for your use when you are staying there.Contact Andy Cameron or webmaster for contact details.

Stirling - 16th July 2010Following the great success of last year’s event, the Stirling Summer Skins will take place in Stirling again this year. You are invited to enter the fun, sociable competition which takes place between Friday 16th and Sunday 18th July 2010 at The Peak Ice Rink based in Forthbank, Stirling, Scotland. The Peak is a fantastic new facility with a wide variety of sports available such as swimming and climbing as well as a 6 sheet ice rink.

The entry fee for the competition is £200 per team and we hope to have a full complement of 32 teams participating. Teams can be male, female or mixed and there are no age restrictions. Games will be run in a skins format with group stages on the Friday and Saturday. Playoffs will be on the Sunday, when we’ll find out who is Stirling Summer Skins Champion 2010!! Cash prizes are available for all games. You are guaranteed a minimum of 3 games.

There are very good catering and bar facilities available overlooking the ice rink. Information about room rates from the player’s hotel, the Holiday Inn Express will be sent nearer the time as well as transport information and payment options for your entry fee.

If you have any questions on anything regarding the tournament please contact Logan Gray on (44) 07736 941861 or bogz29@hotmail.com . The deadline for entries will be the 14th June 2010. Entries after this date will be placed on the reserve list. Entries will only be accepted by email to the address above. A draw and location map will be distributed to skips soon after this date.

This is an open invite so please pass this on to those who you think might be interested!

Yours sincerelyLogan GrayTournament Leader

[19]

100 Club

The English Curling Association runs a ‘100 Club’ to raise funds for the Association. Shares in the club are open to any ECA member and cost £1 per month. An individual can hold up to 15 shares at any one time. Payment is by Standing Order and you can get details from the secretary via the Contact page on the ECA website.

Each month there are three prizes - for £40, £30 and £20. In December the prize money is doubled and in the month of the AGM it is quadrupled. So there is a total of £1440 of prize money each year.

If you want more information then visit the ECA website or Susan Young (0208 540 4161)

Where To Curl

London & The South

The only dedicated curling rink in England can be found near Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Further details can be found on the the curling rink website, Fenton’s Rink.

North-East England

Curling in this area is played at the Kelso Ice Rink, just over the Scottish border. The main English based club in the area is the Glendale club. For further details please email James Dixon at James.Dixon8@btopenworld.com

North-West England & Wales

The main English club in this area is the Preston club who play up in Scotland at the Lockerbie Ice Rink on alternate Thursdays. Please contact the club secretary, Phil Barton on pb@starleyhall.co.uk .

Curling can also be played in Wales on Mondays between 1 pm and 9:30 pm at the Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry, just over the Welsh border to the west of Chester - check out the website of the Welsh Curling Association.

ECA MUSINGS

English Curling

President: Alison Arthur

President elect: Steven Scanlan

Competitions Convener: Philip Barton

Secretary: John Brown

Treasurer: Sandra Moorcroft

Useful Links• www.englishcurling.org.ukEnglish Curling Association website

• www.englishcurlingforum.netEnglish Curling Forum for beginners and experts alike

• www.worldcurling.orgWorld Curling Association

ECA NEWSLETTERContact:Steven Scanlan -

sscanlan@kyzyl.co.uk

The ECA is YOUR

Association