On Friday, twenty-four Canadian women curlers arrive for a Friendship Tour of Scotland. In nearly three weeks, beginning in Stirling on Saturday, they will play twenty-two matches in eighteen different rinks, if my calculations are correct. In the tradition of such tours, the itinerary is packed, and stamina will be required! Donna Duffett is the Canadian Captain.Welcome to Scotland, ladies. As Brenda Macintyre, the RCCC Ladies Branch President says, "I hope you will enjoy this experience and that you will make many new friends and happy memories along the way."
I hear that the Canadians plan, unusually, to rotate their team lineups during their tour. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to see them in action sometime over the next few weeks.
That was the INCOMING.
In contrast, there's something of a junior exodus of our young teams this week as no fewer than five of them head TO Canada. One is there already. Lauren Gray and her team of Jennifer Dodds, Tasha Aitken and Caitlin Barr made it right to the final of the London Junior Cashspiel last weekend before losing a game. A good performance. The team will take part in the Ottowa Valley Curling Association Junior SuperSpiel, as will Hannah Fleming, Becca Kesley, Alice Spence and Abi Brown. These Royal Club National Academy teams are in a twenty-four team triple knockout event that is held in seven different curling clubs in the Ottawa region. Ally Fraser, Blair Fraser, Thomas Sloan, Kerr Drummond compete in a similar junior men's event. The website for the JSI OVCA Junior Superspiel is here, to see the draw and follow the results.Two other National Academy teams (Jay McWilliam, Grant Hardie, Struan Wood, Ian Copland and John Penny, Colin Dick, Colin Howden, Billy Morton) will also be in Canada, in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, at the Junior Curling Classic. There are twenty-four teams in the junior men's competition, playing in four sections. This event is held at the Westmount Golf and Country Club and at the KW Granite Club. The event website is here to follow the teams' progress.
