John Katerenchuk (front right), the organizer of next weekend’s Osoyoos Men’s Bonspiel, is inviting members of the community to watch the curling and attend Saturday’s dinner and dance at the Osoyoos International Curling Club. A total of 24 teams are expected to compete for cash prizes, which is a first for the local bonspiel. (File photo)
Organizers of the annual men’s bonspiel at the Osoyoos International Curling Club have decided to put their money where their mouths are for the 2016 event, which begins next Friday evening.
Close to 100 curlers from across the South Okanagan and other parts of British Columbia will be competing for cash, instead of prizes, for the first time in the bonspiel’s history, said organizer John Katerenchuk.
“The biggest change this year is that we’ll be handing out cash to the winners of each draw, instead of prizes from a prize table,” he said. “More and more bonspiels have been offering cash prizes and we’re excited about it for this year’s bonspiel.”
Also on Saturday night, there will be a special promotion where every curler in the bonspiel will have one shot to try and land on the button to try and win more cash.
There will be cash prizes for the three curlers who land closest to the button, said Katerenchuk.
A total of 21 teams had signed up as of Wednesday and organizers remain confident at least 24 teams will have registered by the time the registration deadline expires this Friday afternoon.
The curlers will hit the ice next Friday, Jan. 15 and compete over three days before declaring a champion on Sunday afternoon, said Katerenchuk.
The men’s bonspiel is the longest-running bonspiel at the Osoyoos club, he said.
“The old club opened its doors way back in 1954 and it’s my belief that we’ve held a men’s bonspiel every year since,” he said. “That’s more than 60 years and we’re quite proud our bonspiel has been around that long.’
This year’s tournament will include three teams from the Lower Mainland, three from Summerland, three from Oliver, one from Penticton and one from Vernon, as well as a dozen local teams.
The level of competition is always solid and he expects some outstanding curling over the three-day tournament, said Katerenchuk.
“We always have some very competitive teams and we always have a few that are just there to have some fun,” he said. “The top competitive teams usually move on to the A draw and meet other competitive teams and then things fall into place in the B and C draw over the course of the weekend.’
There will be two draws held Friday night and action will resume early Saturday morning and continue until the early evening.
The shootout to the button competition will take place before the Saturday evening buffet dinner and dance, said Katerenchuk.
The semi-finals in all draws will commence Sunday morning, with the finals set to take place around 2 p.m.
All members of the community are invited to check out the curling and purchase tickets to attend the Saturday evening buffet dinner and dance, said Katerenchuk.
“We always invite members of the community to join us for some good curling and to enjoy the social,” he said.
Tickets for the buffet dinner and dance are $15 per person and are available at the bar at the curling club.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
