Several teams from Westlock County competed in the Alberta Floor Curling Championships in Edmonton from May 30-31.
The team from Jarvie led by skip Anna Nesterovich were the winners of the competition with five wins and one tie with the team also comprising of Gloria Johson, Lawrence Nesterovich, and Alvin Stedel.
Second and third-place finishes were secured by teams from Mayerthorpe, with the fourth-place team from Westlock. The Westlock team were led by skip Laurel Ellerington and also featured Claus Langeveld, Yvonne Crichton and Freda Brodersen.
The championship featured 24 teams from across Alberta with northern teams from Jarvie, Dapp, Mayerthorpe, Flatbush, Westlock, Whitecourt, Villeneuve, Redwater, Onoway, Fawcett and Anselmo. The south was represented by teams from Tofield, Kinsella, Stony Plain, Vegreville, Mundare, Bawlf, Fort Saskatchewan, Edson, SEESA (South East Edmonton Senior Association, NWESS (North West Edmonton Seniors Society) and Strome.
Alberta floor curling has now wrapped up its 2024/25 season and will be taking a break for the summer until a new season begins in September.
Alberta floor curling is having a fundraiser at the Yellowhead casino on August 17-18 to raise money for their upcoming season.
“Every club that's an Alberta floor curling member holds two Alberta floor curling draws throughout the season and like Jarvie and a lot of these clubs, we do invitationals when there's not a natural Alberta floor curling competition on,” said floor curling organizer Lorne Beamish.
The Alberta Floor Curling Association was founded in 1988 by Aime Auger with the intent of uniting the various floor curling clubs across the province into a provincial administration.
Floor curling is primarily played by seniors as a safer alternative to regular curling on ice which has a higher risk of injury due to the ice surface. The game has similar rules to ice curling except with the rocks being thrown on a waxed floor instead of ice with no sweepers. The games are typically eight ends lasting around 45 minutes. Floor curling is also accessible to participants in wheelchairs who can use a push stick to throw the rock.
