With Whitecourt double-booked, the Westlock Curling Club came through in the last minute to host the Alberta School Athletic Association North Central Zone curling finals Feb. 23-24 .
Eight schools sent 16 boys, girls and mixed teams, with R.F. Staples contributing one in each bracket. When the brooms were finally hung up, R.F. Staples scored a silver in the mixed and bronze in both the boys and girls events. Only the gold-medal winning teams will advance to the provincial championships in St. Albert.
“We had some really good teams, really good competition and really good sportsmanship,” said coach Leanne Huppertz.
“We only had about three weeks to get zones together — normally we know who is hosting in September — so the community support for this was huge. Paula and Hugh Clark really helped out with the draw.”
Parents, grandparents and curling fans alike packed into the foyer as Barrhead Composite High School took the gold in the mixed and girls categories, while Morinville Community High School won the boys title.
Huppertz noted that the T-Birds played well, but needed more time to gel.
“We didn’t have much time once we got everybody together,” she said.
“With the other commitments our senior high players had it was kind of hard to get together for practice. They’ve got lots of talent and lots of skill.”
While high school curling is now finished for the year, R.F. Staples is still preparing for the Pembina Hills Regional Division junior high bonspiel March 14 to wrap the season.
“There’s no gold, silver or bronze but they will be competing against each other for prizes,” said Huppertz. “That will be just a one-day thing, and then we’ll be wrapped up.”
