Two teams, a ladies’ and men’s, representing the Osoyoos International Curling Club will be competing in the B.C. Provincial 60 and Over Masters Bonspiel in Richmond starting later this week. The ladies team includes (from left) skip Kate Pierlet, third Monica Ondrus, second Pat Horner and lead Verla Anderson. Both teams will be competing against seven other teams in a round-robin format. Abrey’s rink has competed in these same championships the previous two years and are hoping to go all the way this year. (Photo supplied)
Two seniors rinks from the Osoyoos International Curling Club are busy preparing to test their skills against the province’s best over-60 rinks.
The rink skipped by Dale Abrey and the one skipped by Kate Pierlet will both be competing in the British Columbia Provincial 60 and Over Masters Bonspiel in Richmond.
There will also be a men’s 70 and over division as well as a 60 and over mixed division bonspiel, with eight teams qualifying in each division, including four form the Lower Mainland and four from the Southern Interior.
Abrey’s team features lead Larry Gabelman, second John Katerenchuk and third Ron Robinson.
This team has been together for more than four years and this will be the third-consecutive year they will be representing Osoyoos at the senior provincial bonspiel.
“We actually played in the 70 and over division last year, but we’re back to the 60 and over division with John back on the team,” said Abrey. “We’ve played pretty well in the provincials the last two years, but came up just short.
“All of the teams that you play against in a tournament of this calibre are going to be good. It usually comes down to one or two shots that make the difference in each game.
“Our goal this year is to try and curl our best, be competitive and see what happens.”
As has been the case in past years, the tournament format sees each of the eight teams that have qualified play each other once in a round-robin format.
“The team with the best record after seven games wins the championship … there are no playoffs,” said Abrey. “If there’s a tie, the team that beat the other team in the round-robin is the winner.”
Abrey’s team has been one of the better teams in the Osoyoos men’s league since forming four years ago and they hope their years of experience will pay off this time around, he said.
“We are all good friends and we’ve played an awful lot of games together these past four years, so we have the experience to hopefully do well when it counts,” he said. “We’re heading to provincials confident that we can maybe do some damage if we curl our best. We’ll be trying to win it all, that’s for sure.”
Pierlet, who curls at the Osoyoos Club as well as the Oliver Curling Club, has a new team formed this year specifically to compete in the provincial 60 and over bonspiel.
Her team consists of lead Verla Anderson, second Pat Horner and third Monica Ondrus.
“We just started this year,” she said. “We’ve all curled against each other on many occasions, but we thought we would put this team together to compete at provincials.”
Any time you get to compete at a provincial competition, it’s exciting, said Pierlet.
“I’m getting excited,” she said. “Most of the top senior curlers in the province will be there and it will be a huge bonspiel with 32 teams in four divisions, so it should be fun.”
The ladies will look good as Osoyoos Home Hardware has sponsored the team and purchased nice-looking team jackets, said Pierlet.
Her team relies on making tough shots with a lot of rocks in play to do well, she said.
“We like to play a soft game and make some shots,” she said. “Our key to success will be playing consistently and not getting too upset if things don’t go our way early in a game. If we play our soft game and execute, we’ll do just fine.”
The woman’s bonspiel features the same eight-team round-robin format as the men’s draw, she said.
Pierlet thanked all of the local sponsors who provided support to her team before they travelled to Richmond, including several local wineries.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Two teams, a ladies’ and men’s, representing the Osoyoos International Curling Club will be competing in the B.C. Provincial 60 and Over Masters Bonspiel in Richmond starting later this week. The men’s team includes (from left) skip Dale Abrey, third Ron Robinson, second John Katerenchuk and lead Larry Gabelman. Both teams will be competing against seven other teams in a round-robin format. Abrey’s rink has competed in these same championships the previous two years and are hoping to go all the way this year. (Photo supplied)
