The world's oldest international curling competition is coming to South Delta and everyone is invited to come watch.
The Tunnel Town Curling Club is hosting part of the Strathcona Cup West tour on Saturday at 2: 30 p.m. The Tsawwassen venue is one of 11 stops on the B.C. tour, which starts on Thursday in North Vancouver and concludes next Wednesday on Vancouver Island.
The Strathcona Cup, established in 1903, pits curlers from Scotland against curlers from Canada in a series of friendly games.
Scotland is a nation known for the bravery of its countrymen, so it's not surprising that the 20 Scottish curlers coming to B.C. in January have a very ambitious schedule ahead of them.
The tour takes to curling clubs in the Greater Vancouver area, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. And it doesn't end there as they will also be travelling east through Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba after their stay in B.C.
"We're hoping to give the Strathcona Cup curlers a warm welcome. That's why we're encouraging as many people as possible to come out to their nearest club and support the event," said tour organizer Bruce Beveridge. "Not all the players will be curling at the same time, so you will have the opportunity to talk to the visiting teams."
Four Tunnel Town rinks will be taking on their Scottish visitors. They are: Team Kosmynka (Al Kosmynkya, Phil Savard, Pat Holbrook, Darrell Unger); Team Larock (Dale Larock, Larry Evans, Bob Fisher, Ron Franklin); Team McColewell (Dave Cole, Neil Bidewell, Brian Cole, Sean McCoy) and Team Westcott (Rae Westcott, Carl O'Reilly, Rod Sorbo, Ian Toucher, George Burden).
To fill the team remaining sheets, 16 players from Tunnel Town's daytime senior league will also be in action: They include: Wayne Welsh, Bob Maxwell, Pat Pettman, Jim Kirkey, Neil McLennan, Neil Peterson, Fred Findler, George Burden, Brian Hewson, Peter Graham, Don Faulkner, Bob Pchajek, Lorne Purchas, Bill Chernoff, Andy Anderson and Glen Tibbatts.
The Strathcona Cup is named after Lord Strathcona, Sir Donald Alexander Smith, who was the President of the Royal Caledonia Curling Club at the turn of the last century. The cup itself, engraved with silver Celtic symbols and curling scenes, stays in Scotland as it is thought to be too valuable to move back and forth between the two countries. The competition is held in Canada once every 10 years.
At the same time as the Strathcona West Tour, a Strathcona Central and East tour will take place in Ontario and the Maritimes. Each win will be tallied up and the country - Scotland or Canada - with the most points will win the coveted cup.
