WESTLOCK – Curlers from across the province will be vying for a spot at the provincial championships when the Westlock Curling Club hosts the women’s provincial curling qualifier Dec. 7-10 at the Westlock Curling Rink.
One of those teams will include two sisters from Westlock, skip Emily Graham and her sister lead Rachel Clark, and two of their friends, second Leslie Hammond from Stony Plain and third Taryn Hamilton from Okotoks.
“I think it’s exciting that it’s coming to town and it’s exciting that there is a local team participating in it,” said Clark. “I think knowing the ice is definitely a bit of an advantage because every curling rink’s ice is a little different, so that will definitely help.”
A total of eight teams will compete at the provincial championships Jan. 23-28 in St. Paul, with four teams chosen based on points earned and accumulated at bonspiels during the season and four chosen at two qualifiers, including the one in Westlock and another one held in Airdrie in early January 2024.
“It’s a double knockout bonspiel so there’ll be an 'A' event winner and a 'B' event winner. Both of those A and B winners will go to provincials,” said Clark, noting games will begin on Friday, Dec. 8. “The top four teams that have the most points will automatically qualify for provincials and the rest of the remaining teams that didn’t qualify on points will play in this qualifier in Westlock … (and) all these teams will have one more opportunity (in Airdrie) to try to go to provincials.”
Both Clark and her sister “grew up at the Westlock curling rink” and have curled for many years, but unlike their two teammates Hammond and Hamilton, they have never had an opportunity to compete at provincials. They hope this year will be different, said Clark, noting they curled in last year’s qualifier in Rimbey and lost in the 'B' final and prior to that in 2020, just before the pandemic hit, they also competed in the provincial qualifier and lost in the 'C' final.
“So this will be mine and my sister’s third attempt at trying to make it to provincials,” Clark said.
The Westlock Curling Club has previously hosted several provincial qualifiers and this year the women’s qualifier will feature 14 teams from across Alberta all vying for a spot at the provincial championships in January.
Clark said her team will be practising several days a week between now and the Westlock qualifier, with hopes of making it to provincials. The team is preparing for the event and will “focus on the little things to “try to beat our opponent per end.”
Besides the home rink advantage and the hometown crowd cheering them on, Clark indicated they have a "pretty good shot" at qualifying for provincials based on how they've been doing this year.
“We’ve curled in four bonspiels already this season against a lot of the teams that are going to be at the qualifier and we’ve made it to the quarter-finals in two of those bonspiels, so we definitely have a shot to win and go to provincials this year,” said Clark.
