The 100th Viterra Men’s Provincial Curling Championship has gotten underway, with each sheet in action from Wednesday, February 5 through Sunday, February 9.
Craig Baker, the Executive Director of CurlManitoba, shares what it means to see the event kick off again.
“We get to do this before Curling Canada. So, you know, we started first and we get to celebrate it first, so you know it’s special. It’s a special number. There’s some neat things we’re doing.”
Baker adds that the championship is bringing lots of people with previous involvement out.
“We have about 40 to 45 alumni coming. Our past champions are going to be at the banquet with the current competitors and it’s bringing that heritage with the current. I think that’s part of the neat things about the sport is when you can do that, and you know not every year you can you do all the time. But you know this is one of those milestones where celebrating 100 years, we have that sort of thing.”
He notes that the amount of action will mean they won’t be able to do as many special events as they may have liked, but they hope to make it a unique experience for all attendees.
“We have five days to get from 32 teams to a champion, so we couldn’t do too many special things throughout because it is a jampacked week of curling, but we’re trying to do some special things along the way.”
He adds the tournament brings a special meaning to all the teams, with a special addition for the winning squad, a chance to compete on the national stage.
“No team here has a direct entry into the Brier, so, the winner goes. It’s truly the winner goes to the National Championship. You want to see them wear the buffalo on their back, you want to see them represent Manitoba with pride at the Brier. They always do that, and we’re excited to see who that will be!”
Live scoring can be found here: Live Scores & Results – CurlManitoba