Issue 38 Your Curler Mar 2016 The Royal Caledonian Club Member Ezine

CLUBS AND RINKS University of Dundee celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary with a bonspiel, as well as lots more from other clubs.

FEATURES COMPETITIONS Member Ticket Offer – Exclusive European This month’s competitions round-up including Curling Championships tournament pass the Scottish Seniors, Asham Slams, the World pre-sale. Junior Championships and more. www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 02 Clubs & Rinks MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org V DUNBARTONSHIRE INTER PROVINCE COMPETITION A new annual Inter Province competition was held at Braehead on Saturday 30th January when 16 rinks from Glasgow and Dunbartonshire competed for the ‘Thomson Trophy’. The trophy was presented by Clive Thomson, President of Glasgow Province to encourage a closer relationship between the two Provinces in Area 4. Dunbartonshire came out on top by the substantial margin of 66- 31. The main difference was that Glasgow had opened up the match to any individual curler in the Province whereas Dunbartonshire asked 8 clubs to provide a rink. However, a good day was had by all and Judith Thomson, Clive’s wife, presented David Wright (Bearsden Report by: Clive Thomson Ski Club), Dunbartonshire Province President, with the Thomson Quaich and the winning curlers with a miniature curling stone.

EAST KILBRIDE AND HAREMYRES EIGHT ENDER Eight Ender scored by EK & Haremyres Ladies at Lanarkshire Ice Rink on 9th February during the West of Ladies League. Team Agnes Strang, Anne Paterson, Caroline Morrison, Catherine Morrison.

2016 SCOTTISH CURLING AWARDS CELEBRATING CURLING IN SCOTLAND

CURLING’S COOL AT Young Curler of the Year LOCKERBIE ICE RINK Team of the Year Grassroots Coach of the Year The P7 Primary Schools Festival was held on Friday 4th March at Lockerbie Ice Rink with 20 teams from Ice Diamond Award schools throughout and competing for the A & E Sport & Leisure shield. Six teams qualified for the playoffs with Eaglesfield emerging as the winners. Olympic Bronze Medallist and current Scottish Champion presented the shield to the winning team, made up of Caitlin Key, Maciek Sokolowski, Jamie Dalgleish and Cameron Murray. © WCF / Richard Gray 2014 Gray / Richard © WCF

The Scottish Curling Awards are held annually to acknowledge and celebrate the success and achievements of Scottish curlers over the last year. Visit www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org for award criteria and to make your nominations online. Clubs & Rinks MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 03 SECONDARY SCHOOLS BONSPIEL The thirteenth annual Secondary schools bonspiel for the Andrew McClune Memorial Trophy was held at Lockerbie Ice Rink on Monday 14th March 2016. Ten teams made up from six schools took part. The bonspiel was a great success and the Andrew McClune Memorial Trophy was presented to the winning team by Christopher McClune, Andrew’s youngest brother. This year there was a new trophy presented – a stunning engraved curling stone. The prizes for first and second were presented by the sponsors Report by: Gilchrist - Pauline Hyslop on behalf of the Rostrum Sports and Jill Callander on behalf of Magnox Ltd. The evening was concluded with a light supper provided by the Ice Rink Café caterers. This year’s winning rink was 1 skipped by Thanks go to the sponsors, the McClune family, the teachers and teams Ryan McCormack with team members Angus Naysmith, Robbie and the ice rink who supplied admin support, Curling School coaches and McCormack and Jake Beattie. One shot behind were catering and refreshments. Academy 2 followed by Dumfries High 1. Other schools participating were , and Maxwellton High. GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY FOR UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

CURLING CLUB The University of Dundee Curling Club was started in March 1966 by some enthusiastic lecturers for the benefit of both staff and students. Initially admitted to the RCCC in 1966 as ‘Queen’s College Curling Club’, (part of St Andrew’s University), its name was changed in May 1967, after Dundee University had become independent. Early on, it initiated the Inter-University Bonspiel in 1967, between teams from Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, which developed into the Scottish Universities Curling Championship and ran for many seasons. Over the years, membership has broadened to family members and friends of staff and past students. Integration with current students is always a challenge, as seasonal programmes are published and ice is already available before new students arrive each autumn. The University of Dundee Curling Club celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary on Monday 22nd February 2016 at Dundee Ice Arena with a Bonspiel against teams made up from 12 neighbouring clubs. The opening ‘stanes’ were played by Bill Main, the oldest past President still playing, and the current President, Lewis McNicol. The University won 4 of the 6 games. The winning rink overall were team Lewis McNicol, Simon Arthur, Linda Costello and Ed Brown, who each received engraved miniature curling stones, and the losing rink of Pitkerro and Monifieth players received hand-crafted wooden spoons. The enjoyable games were followed by an excellent buffet and a celebration cake. Report: Judy Robinson Further celebrations will take place in November with a formal dinner at the Royal Tay Yacht Club in Broughty Ferry, Dundee. LOCKERBIE LADIES EIGHT ENDER AT STRANRAER A ladies team from Lockerbie achieved their first ever eight ender earlier this season at the Stranraer Ladies President’s Day at Stranraer Ice Rink. The team, pictured with their eight ender award, are left to right: Jean Irving, Christine Ross, Valerie Davidson and Helen Hally. 04 Clubs & Rinks MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org LOCKERBIE AND DUMFRIES COME TOGETHER IN CURLING CELEBRATION A new competition designed to bring lady curlers from Lockerbie and Dumfries together in a spirit of fellowship and friendship reached its climax at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Friday 11th March. Eight teams, each with two Lockerbie players and two for Dumfries, competed over a series of four end games for the Symington Cup. This cup was donated as a legacy from the Symington Club, now sadly wound up, that had curled for many years out of Lockerbie. It was fitting that two of the lady curlers, one from Dumfries and one from Lockerbie had previously been members of Symington. The competition that had been established to strengthen the links between the two centres was a great success. The format allowed Fiona Hardie from Dumfries, with Margot Woods Lockerbie, Maureen Woods players who had previously only met as opponents to play together (D) and Anne Vevers (L). Runners up were Valerie Davidson (L), Marion Mather in integrated teams and new friendships were forged. (D), Margaret Reavley (L), and May Bryden (D). Thomas Tosh from Thornhill There was some excellent curling, both at Lockerbie in October generously sponsored the competition and provided prizes that were very and again on Friday 11th March. The winning rink was skipped by well received.

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Order online: www.skeki.de/curling-supplies Skeki GmbH—Fuggerstr. 35—D-10777 Berlin—Email: [email protected] (english) Features MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 05 2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS TICKET OFFER Tournament Passes for the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships at Braehead, Renfrewshire (19-26 November 2016) are now on sale to members of The Royal Caledonian Curling Club with our exclusive ticket offer in this issue of Your Curler. As the most dedicated supporters of curling in Scotland we are rewarding our members with access to tournament passes before anyone else! Book yours online through Ticketmaster by clicking on the advert below. There are two options to select from: Premium Tournament Passes and standard Tournament Passes. Both give you access to every session of European Curling Championship action at intu Braehead Arena and Premium Tournament Passes include premium seating - best views behind the house - for the men’s and women’s finals on 26th November. Please note that all seating in the arena is unreserved for the duration of the championships; seats within the Premium block on finals day are accessible to Premium Tournament Pass holders only. Premium Tournament Passes give you a massive saving of over £100 on individual session tickets and with less than 300 available we want to ensure RCCC members get there first! So go on, immerse yourself in a week of top flight curling and enjoy everything that intu Braehead’s world-class retail and leisure destination has to offer! Tournament passes will go on public sale from 13th April. Individual session tickets will go on sale in the Autumn. Latest ticketing information will be available from www.worldcurling.org/ecc2016

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worldcurling.org/ecc2016 06 Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org

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ASHAM UNDER 17 SLAM - PERTH Callum Kinnear’s team (Callum Kinnear, Ryan McCormack, Duncan McFadzean, Matthew McKenzie – pictured) secured the overall 2015/16 Asham Under 17 Slam title as they won the last slam event of the season at Dewars Centre, Perth, 27th – 28th February. The Kinnear rink came up against Team Craik (James Craik, Angus Bryce, Mark Watt, Campbell White) in the final, but handshakes were offered after seven ends with the score at 8 – 4. Meanwhile the low- road final was played by Team Hof (Tim Hoff, Stuart Anderson, Fraser McDonald, James Scott, ) and Team Jacklin (Callum Jacklin, Ross McCulloch, Marran Nicol, James Carter) with the final score 9 – 7 to Jacklin. Team Davie (Lisa Davie, Kirsty Barr, Annabell Skuse, Emma Barr – pictured) emerged as the winning girls team from the slam and were presented with prizes by Graham Lindsay alongside Team Kinnear, who have claimed spaces on the Camp in Fussen, Germany, after winning four of the five slam events this season.

FOR LINE SCORES AND MORE CLICK HERE

Photos: Barry McKenzie Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 07 SCOTTISH CURLING SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS The Men’s and Women’s Finals of the Go Coco Scottish Curling Senior Championships took place at a packed Lanarkshire Ice Rink on Sunday 28th February with Team Muirhead ( – skip, , , ) taking the 2016 Scottish Curling Senior Men’s Championship title, and Team Lockhart ( – skip, , , Margaret Richardson) taking the 2016 Scottish Curling Senior Women’s Championship title. These teams will now go on to represent Scotland at the World Senior Curling Championships in Karstad, Sweden, 16th – 23rd April 2016. Going into the women’s final, Team Lockhart were the only undefeated team. Lockhart had been in control for most of the first half of the game, with the score 3-1 in her favour at the halfway point, but Prentice looked strong in the fifth, lying two and with a third stone in the house against Lockhart’s one, by the time Gwen played her last stone. Although her last stone was slightly heavy and tapped back one of her own, Team Prentice were lying three when Jackie played her last – she managed the hit and took one. Although Lockhart had four stones left in the house by the end of the sixth, Gwen managed a draw for two with her last, lessening the gap between the teams with the score now 3-4 to Lockhart. It looked like Team Prentice were again putting pressure on Team Lockhart in the seventh, but a miss with Gwen’s last left Lockhart the opportunity to draw for two.

Photos: Richard Gray

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For refreshing rehydration and recovery, reach for Go Coco! The final end saw Team Lockhart keep the house as clear as possible in order to maintain their lead. Handshakes were offered after Jackie’s first stone, with the final score 6-3 to Team Lockhart. In the men’s event Team Muirhead and Team Howat (Robert Clark – skip, Billy Howat, Dougie Templeton, Alex Torrance) had already faced Super healthy. 50% less sugar and calories each other in the round robin, where Gordon Muirhead’s team had than orange or apple juice. come out on top 5-2 after seven ends. The final saw a tight game, with More potassium than two bananas. lots of blanked ends. By the seventh end Muirhead was ahead 3-1, but Zero cholesterol. in an end which was kept pretty clean, Robert Clark was left a straight Zero added sugar. hit for two, leaving the teams neck and neck with three each going into Zero fat. the final end. After Gordon’s first stone of the eighth end Team Muirhead were sitting two. After a lengthy discussion, Team Howat’s Robert Clark attempted the double, it wasn’t to be, and with two Muirhead stones in the house and two still to play, handshakes were offered, with the final score 5-3 to Muirhead.

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21484 GoCoco Curling Programme A4 Advert.indd 1 01/02/2016 14:23 08 Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org ASHAM UNDER 14 SLAM – PERTH The third and final Asham Under 14 Slam took place at the Dewars Centre, Perth, on the 5th March, where Team Gallacher (Hamish Gallacher - skip, Finnan Brown, Isla Black, Mollie Marley Milligan - pictured) came out on top, winning the final 5 -1.

FOR MORE FROM THE ASHAM UNDER 14 SLAM, CLICK HERE

WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS The 2016 World Junior Curling Championships took place in Tårnby, Denmark from 5-13 March and Scotland’s men – , , Gregor Cannon, Angus Dowell, alternate Robin Brydone and team coach Alan Hannah – were crowned World Junior Champions after a dominant display against Team USA in the final. Scotland’s men were in good form all week – winning seven of their nine round robin games and qualifying in second place. This put them into the page 1 v 2 against the United States, one of only two teams to have beaten them in the round robin. This game went all the way with the Scots trailing by 5-4 going into the tenth end, Photos: © WCF/Marissa Tiel 2016 and © WCF/Richard Gray 2016 but with hammer. With his last stone, skip Bruce Mouat secured a score of three and a place in the Gold Medal final, bypassing the semi-final game which the USA would now contend. The USA men bounced back with a 5-2 win over semi-final opponents Switzerland to set up the gold medal decider with Scotland; a gripping fixture as both teams had now defeated the other over the course of the week. Scotland got off to a strong start in the gold medal game, forcing two one’s and taking two’s in the first half of the game, to lead 4-2 at the halfway point. The second half of the game was much tighter, with both teams forcing ones or blanking. The USA had hammer in the tenth end, but Scotland kept the end clean and managed to run their opposition out of stones, with the final score 6-4 to Scotland. The Scottish women – , , Rachael Halliday, , alternate Katie Murray and coach Robin Halliday – encountered a tough week despite getting their championship off to a winning start against Japan. They ended their campaign in ninth place on two wins and seven losses meaning Scotland will now compete at the B division in January 2017 to FIND MORE FROM THE WORLD JUNIOR regain the nation’s place at the World Junior Championships in 2017. CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS HERE Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 09 SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP Congratulations to Perth Academy on winning the Scottish Schools Curling Championship 2016. Winners – Perth Academy; Callum Kinnear (skip), Mili Smith, Angus Martin and Conner Wilkie-Milne, pictured. Runners up – Perth High; Duncan McFadzean (skip), Leeanne McKenzie, Matthew McKenzie and Cameron Paterson. The Championship took place at intu Braehead 11th – 13th March, with 24 teams taking part after qualifying from local events. Two one sided semi-finals took place with both games ending Photo Credit: © Leslie Ingram-Brown before eight ends had been played. Perth High were on top form in their game against Stranraer Academy 2, and won 10-0 after six ends, while Perth Academy secured their place in the final after a force a one in the third. However Perth Academy came back to steal 2’s in the strong 10-3 win against Wallace Hall Academy. fifth and sixth, securing their 6-2 win in seven ends. Although Perth Academy won the toss in the final and blanked the first end, Perth High managed to steal a one in the second and LINE SCORES FROM THE WEEKEND AVAILABLE HERE

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BOOK NOW t: 01776 704 413 | e: [email protected] Rate based on 2 people sharing a classic room 10 Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org THE RINK CHAMPIONSHIP The Rink Championship took place from the 4th – 6th February at Forfar Indoor Sports, with 24 teams representing their ice rinks after qualifying from local events. The Curl Aberdeen 1 Team of David Edwards, Ian Grigor, and Craig McNaughton claimed the title after winning four of their five round robin games. The Kinross 2 team of Grant Barr, Drew Thomson, Fraser Thomson and Craig Barr had also gone through the round robin with four wins and one loss. In the Final Curl Aberdeen 1 (Petroleum CC) won the toss over Kinross 2 ( CC). The first end was blanked, with both teams gaining momentum in the second and third end, trading twos. A three in the fourth for Curl Aberdeen, followed by another three in the sixth secured the game for them and although Kinross managed a two in the seventh end, handshakes were offered. Final score 8-5 to Curl Aberdeen.

FOR ALL LINE SCORES FROM THE COMPETITION, VISIT THE RINK CHAMPIONSHIP HERE

RCCC FUNSPIEL Ninety-six young curlers representing their junior clubs took to the ice at intu Braehead on Sunday 20th March to take part in the Under 13 and Under 15 RCCC Funspiel. The teams in both age categories played three games of four ends with the winner being determined by points, ends, shots up, total shots scored. Scott Hyslop led his Dumfries team to a fantastic achievement in the Under 13’s by going undefeated throughout the round robin, however the Lockerbie team (Jake Hathaway, Robbie McCormack, Ben Crosbie and Robbie Graham) skipped by Hathaway played a very strong game to win the trophy in the final. The Under 15 Funspiel saw Greenacres, Ayr and Dumfries all finishing top of their sections with Stranraer 1 qualifying fourth as highest second place after 3 games. The winning team was from Stranraer skipped by, Adam Cairne, Harry Hay, Matthew McCrone and Iona Irving after playing a final against Dumfries. Alongside the Funspiel, there was also the Hotshots Challenge – for the second consecutive year – Stranraer 1 were clear Under 13 winners with 54 points, led by Niall Ryder along with Robyn Munro, Robbie and Kerr Lyon. The Under 15 Hotshots Challenge had a clear winner with Stranraer 2 winning with 60 points, the team led by Finlay Audred along with Logan Hare, Gordon Johnstone and Findlay Hare.

FOR FULL REPORT, CLICK HERE Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org 11 SCOTTISH PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP The Scottish Pairs Championship was held at Stranraer Ice Rink from 18th – 20th March. There were 24 duos taking part in the Championship, who each earned the right to compete from qualifying events held at their local ice rinks. The teams were split into four sections, with the top two teams from each section progressing to the quarter finals on Sunday morning. By 3pm on Sunday the final two teams left to battle it out in the final were Lockerbie and Murrayfield 1. The Lockerbie team of Scott and Robert Hamilton (pictured with Billy Howat, RCCC President) came out on top to claim the Scottish Pairs title, with a final score of 5-2.

FOR LINE SCORES FROM THE WEEKEND, VISIT THE SCOTTISH PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP

HENDERSON BISHOP From 29th of February to 3rd March 2016 the Ice Rink at Lockerbie was host to the prestigious National Henderson Bishop Trophy finals. Over four days, more than 80 women in twenty teams from across Scotland, who had already fought hard in local qualifying rounds to represent their area, engaged in a spectacular display of curling expertise. This culminated in a tense and riveting session on Thursday afternoon. Two finals were played, one for the Henderson Bishop Trophy itself, and a second for the Cherrystone – a prize contested by the runners up in each section. In the Cherrystone final, came up against Inverness and despite holding them to three all after four ends, eventually Inverness triumphed with a score of 7 to 4. The Inverness team was made up of skip Yvonne Birnie, vice Linda Hoskins, second Alice Holland and lead Phyllis Tulloch. Lockerbie Ice Rink would like to thank everyone who contributed to the The climax of the week was the Henderson Bishop Trophy, success of this event, the sponsors, local hoteliers, the organising committee keenly contested between Murrayfield and Ayr. It was a nail biting and everyone who helped to give our visitors from across the country a taste game with the lead passing back and forth between the two rinks, of warm and welcoming Lockerbie hospitality. the score being 5 all after six ends, but in the final two ends Ayr extended a lead to win by 9 to 5. The Ayr team were skip Margaret FOR MORE FROM THE HENDERSON BISHOP, Agnew, vice Gail Thompson, second Alison Cunningham and lead CLICK HERE Anne Anderson.

ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP The Aberdeen International Curling Championship took place from the 25th– 27th March, at Curl Aberdeen. Twenty men’s teams from across the globe are took part in the new competition which is both a part of the Goldline Scottish Curling Tour and the Curling Champions Tour. The final on Sunday afternoon saw the same the two teams from the Scottish Curling Championships Men’s Final come head to head once again. However, this time it was Team Murdoch who came out on top, with a 5-1 victory. Team Murdoch (Michael Goodfellow, , , ) were presented with the Bruce Ferguson Memorial Trophy by Bruce’s wife, Kate Ferguson.

FOR MORE FROM THE WEEKEND, VISIT THE ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP BLOG. 12 Competitions & Events MARCH 2016 ISSUE | YOUR CURLER | www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org

FORD WORLD WOMEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Scotland were represented at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship in Swift Current, Canada between Saturday 19th and Sunday 27th March by Team Muirhead (, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams, and alternate Rachael Hannen) after they won the Scottish Curling Women’s Championship in Perth in February. After the round-robin stages Scotland secured seven games from a possible eleven games, which put them in fifth position on the table - just missing out on a spot in the knockout stages. The team had been looking strong going into the last two days of round robin play, with only one loss and six wins. They continued this form on Photos: Michael Burns Wednesday morning with a decisive 7-1 win in just six ends against the Russian team, skipped by Anna Sidorova. However it wasn’t to last and in their second game of the day The last game of the round robin was a winner-takes-it-all showdown against - eventual gold medal winners - Switzerland they were against Canada, with the winner of the game progressing to the page 3v4 beaten 7-6 after an extra end. After the game Muirhead seemed on the Saturday morning. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Eve Muirhead and upbeat, saying, “we’re happy with how we played out there. I don’t her team, with the Scots conceding after nine ends, with the final score 9-4 think we can get too hung up on that at all. When you play a team to Canada’s Chelsea Carey. After the game, Muirhead said, “it’s hard because that’s shooting the lights out in the last few ends, it’s hard, but I’m we played pretty well at the start of the week and we got a lot of good play not going to get hung up on that at all.” going. It’s hard to take that we’re out but we lost the last three games and at Unfortunately the final day of the round robin was also to be the major Championships you just can’t do that.” final day of competition for the Scottish women, with two losses against strong opponents. The first was against Japan, where the Japanese team opened well with a score of three in the first end and FOR A FULL ROUND UP OF ALL followed that up with two more points in the third end and four in SCOTLAND’S GAMES, CLICK HERE the fifth. When Japan scored one more in the seventh end, the Scots conceded.