The Chestermere Curling Association (CCA) held their first Doubles Bonspiel on March 1st & 2nd, 2019. This curling format has been around for a while, but was brought to the forefront when John Morris (former Chestermere Resident) & Kaitlyn Lawes won a Gold Medal in the Mixed Doubles in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. In Doubles Curling you only have two players per team. Each team throws five stones per end plus there is one stationary stone from each team in play at the beginning of each end. One player on a team delivers the 1st stone and the 5th stone while the other player delivers the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stone. The game lasts for eight ends and the scoring is the same as in regular curling. The most points that can be scored in one end of Doubles curling is 6 instead of 8 for regular curling.
There were 8 teams vying for the top spot in the A, B and C events. Since this was an Open Doubles Bonspiel, the teams could register with any combination of genders. Denise Schmitz was the organizer of the Doubles Bonspiel. “We had many spectators and there were many really great shots made” said Schmitz. She added, there is never a dull moment in this game and many games had very high scores. In one game Schmitz made a tough tap back of her opponent’s rock and stayed to score 6, the very next end the Heck team scored 6 points back!
Hugh & Sylvia Adams never lost a game thus secured the top spot in the bonspiel winning the A Event. Alvin & Joanne Heck took the B Event, and Kris Eacrett and Ryan Avery won the C Event. 2018/2019 was the first season we offered a Mixed Doubles League in the CCA. Considering the success of the Open Doubles Bonspiel we may consider offering a Sunday Night Open Doubles League instead of a Mixed Doubles League for the 2019/2020 curling season? Registration will begin online through our curling website www.chestermerecurling.com starting July 1st, 2019. Returning Teams will secure their spots when they register and New Teams will be registered on a first come first serve basis. So get your registrations in early to make sure you are able to secure your spot!
