It may have been winter outside, but inside the Salmon Arm Curling Centre on Saturday young curlers were sweeping in summer fashions.
On Feb. 10, the curling centre hosted the 2024 Salmon Arm Junior Bonspiel. The theme for the event was Summer in the Shuswap, with participants sporting light, bright attire intended for warmer days over layers of warmer winter wear.
The bonspiel welcomed players, their families and other supporters from Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Enderby and Vernon. Fourteen teams of 56 curlers total, were divided into three divisions: two novice, ages 9-13, and one intermediate, ages 13 and up.
“It’s always a very high energy event,” said co-organizer Dick Mann. “There are always full families there – younger siblings, parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts – there’s always a big crowd that watches and supports the junior curlers, which is great to see.”
Coming out on top in one of the novice divisions was the Campbell team from Enderby, followed by Salmon Arm’s Shellborn team in second place. In the second Novice Division, the BeJong team from Kamloops took first place, followed by Salmon Arm’s Folkhard team in second.
Two Salmon Arm teams took the top spots in the Intermediate Division, with the Monteith team winning first place followed by the Rands team in second. The Monteith team was awarded the Dave Bellway Senior Memorial Cup. Mann explained the trophy is named after a former curler and big supporter of the Salmon Arm Curling Centre’s Junior program.
“When he passed away, his family made a donation towards our Junior program in recognition of his contributions,” said Mann.
Speaking of contributions, Mann said the curling centre and Junior program are grateful for the support of local businesses and families who provided cash/prize donations for the bonspiel.
“It’s a great event that we really enjoy putting on. We couldn’t do it without them,” said Mann.
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