Want to play in Scotland's newest curling rink? The Ice Bowl, Dumfries, with its dedicated curling rink now available for play at weekends, will host three new competitions next season.To kick of the season, the Dumfries rink will hold the Ice Bowl Open, September 16-18. This involves four sections of six with qualifiers playing quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, with a consolation events for the beaten quarterfinalists and semifinalists.
Next up will be the Dumfries 4Bowl which was run previously as the summerspiel back in the summer of 2009 when Team Ireland won the spoils. Due to the construction work on the new ice pad the summerspiel fell of the calendar. Reborn again, the Ice Bowl will host the 4Bowl, October 7-9. The 4Bowl will be open to any four curlers with cash prizes for the top teams.
Later in the season (February 10-12) there will be a most unusual event. Speed Pairs is an invention that Graham Sloan, the Dumfries ADO, came up with three seasons ago for the local junior club. Graham says, "Speed Pairs offers fantastic excitement and exhilarating games not only to watch but to get your heart rate racing while playing the ultimate curling challenge involved. With Dumfries Ice Bowl now having weekend ice I would like to challenge any curlers out there who think they have what it takes to become the ultimate curler. Speed Pairs will test your nerve to the limit put your body through new physical demands and test the best tacticians in the game all within a fifty-five minute game."
Having seen speed pairs in action, I would certainly encourage everyone to give it a try!
Contact Graham Sloan at the Ice Bowl for more information on any of these events.
The top photo (© Skip Cottage) is of the Ice Bowl pad at the end of the season just past. I wonder if the new rink will continue to have such an innovative colour scheme next season!
