Two teams from Barrhead won medals in the curling event at the 55-plus Winter Games held in St. Albert Feb. 24-27.
Both team participated in the 65-plus curling event.
The 65-plus Men’s curling team, made up of Henry Lappin, Allan Shipton, Robert Schmaus and Glen Thompson of Fort Assiniboine, beat a team from Calgary to win gold at the games. The 65+ mixed curling team of Ray Wildfong from Westlock, Marlene Schmaus, Alva Smith and Joe Smith finished the games with a bronze medal.
For the men’s team, going into the games posed more questions than answers, as most of the members hadn’t played on the same team before.
“We were going there hoping to win a game and not sure if it was going to be possible for two reasons; one, we don’t curl together regularly and two, we just put the team together,” said Shipton.
For the men’s team, just being at the games and competing was a unexpected treat.
“It started when we played in the zones. We thought we would just get some experience and surprisingly we won the zone and got to go to the winter games,” said Shipton.
The road to victory wasn’t easy, as they competed against teams with a lot more competitive experience throughout the tournament.
“The teams there were very competitive, and some of the players we curled against had represented Alberta in the Briar. The team we played in the finals won the Canadian Winter Games a couple of years ago, and another team from Edmonton that we played has played in the National Masters,” said Shipton.
Eight teams competed in the 55-plus mens curling event at the games. There were teams from all over Alberta, including Calgary, Edmonton, Nanton, Lacombe, Vermillion and Fairview, to name a few.
For the mixed team, their bronze medal was a great achievement, even though they entered the games brimming with confidence. Familiarity among the members of the mixed team proved to be the source of their confidence.
“We went into the games thinking we would fare quite well, although we hadn’t curled together as a unit we knew each other well. I knew that Joe and Alva would be very compatible with us, I also knew that Marlene is a very strong third because we’ve curled against each other over the years,” said skip Ray Wildfong.
“There was a great atmosphere at the games, and the companionship was great. It was overwhelming for us as a team,” said Wildfong.
