The annual Osoyoos Men’s Bonspiel will take over the Osoyoos International Curling Club this weekend with 26 teams from all over B.C. competing. Action begins late Friday afternoon and continues all weekend. The finals in all three draws are set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Local curling fans are invited to take in all the action throughout the weekend. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The bonspiel curlers from Osoyoos look forward to the most will take place this coming weekend and all local curling fans are invited to take in the action.
The 2017 Osoyoos International Curling Club’s annual men’s bonspiel will feature 26 teams from all across B.C., with the action beginning Friday and continuing all weekend at the local club.
“We’re up to 26 teams from 24 last year,” said bonspiel organizer John Katerenchuk. “We have a mixture of teams from outside the area with local teams from Osoyoos and Oliver.
“We have a couple of teams from the Lower Mainland, a couple from Summerland and Penticton, a couple from Kelowna for a change, a couple from Vernon and one from Midway. We round out the field with about 10 local teams.”
The action begins late Friday afternoon and will feature three draws throughout the evening. Action resumes Saturday morning and continues all day and the semi-finals and final in the A, B and C draw will take place on Sunday.
The finals in all three draws will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, said Katerenchuk.
The Osoyoos men’s bonspiel has been taking place every year since the club first opened more than 60 years ago in 1954 and remains a popular event, despite facing competition from numerous other bonspiels being held in other venues across the province in early January, said Katerenchuk.
Local teams have tended to fare well in this event through the years, he said.
“We usually have one or two teams in the finals of each event every year,” he said. “Numerous teams from Osoyoos have won the A event in the past. For the local members, this is probably their favourite bonspiel of the year and they obviously want to do well in their home bonspiel.”
For the third consecutive year, there will be cash prizes offered to the winning teams, he said.
“We’ve decided to increase the entry fee a little bit this year, so we’re able to offer more cash prizes and our total pool is up to $3,500, which is up from $3,000 last year,” he said. “The curlers seem to prefer playing for cash instead of prizes.”
For the second straight year, all curlers entered will compete in a “Shot to the Button” competition late Saturday afternoon with cash prizes being awarded to top three shooters.
“You get one shot … closest to the button wins the top prize,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. We will hold this just prior to the banquet on Saturday.”
Members of the public are invited to drop in and watch the curling action free of charge throughout the weekend, said Katerenchuk.
“We invite everyone to come on down and enjoy the curling,” he said. “We would like to see a good crowd on hand throughout the weekend.”
There is always good competition in the Osoyoos men’s bonspiel, he said.
“It’s all about having fun and it’s considered a recreational bonspiel, but we always attract some very good competitive teams as well,” he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
