Bonspiel makes it a double

April 3, 2018

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The Equity

Doubles games are marked by pairs playing instead of teams of four, with five rocks thrown across six ends. From left: This year’s winners were Cameron Goodkey and Joe Morris, who proudly showed off their belts, joined by club president Jeff Russell.

In place of a trophy, the champions of the tournament got something a bit more fashionable. The oversized belts were displayed proudly on the prize table for all to strive for all Saturday long.

The Shawville Curling Club held their Light up the Club Doubles Bonspiel on Saturday, seeing 20 teams compete for fame, glory and a pair of fancy belts. Pictured, Steve Ethier lines up his shot during his afternoon game.

Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE March 31, 2018
A new style of curling took over the Shawville club on Saturday, attracting dynamic duos from the Pontiac and beyond to compete in the Light up the Club Doubles Bonspiel.
Capitalizing off the popularity of the doubles curling in the recent Olympics, the Shawville Curling Club held the tournament in support of many planned upgrades to the building.
Seeing 20 pairs hit the ice, curling club president Jeff Russell said that he could have had many more join if he had more time. Limiting the event to just the Saturday, pairs had travelled from as far as Eganville and Smith’s Falls, and up from Ottawa to compete in the faster-paced games.
“I had to turn teams away,” said Russell.

Russell explained that the doubles games move quicker because of a number of factors – having only two people per team and only five rocks are thrown through the six ends. Due to this, games generally last about 65 minutes, in comparison to two hours.
“None of the teams I’ve talked to had really [played this way] before,” said Russell, adding that the Olympic fever had helped fuel folks’ interest.
However, this wasn’t the first time that the club has seen a doubles tournament, as there had been one about three years ago. Russell said that this old tournament had different rules and that this new one had followed the rules popularized by the Winter Games.
Though winners for the bonspiel this year weren’t walking out with gold medals, they did have a neat prize to adorn and show off, appearing more like wrestling champions.
The big winners were Joe Morris and his grandson, Cameron Goodkey, who took home the belts declaring them champions of the Shawville Curling Club’s Doubles Bonspiel.
Fundraising from the tournament will help the club work towards their goals of creating a more energy-efficient building, a project that will take a bit of time yet and be done in multiple phases. Russell said that the first step will be redoing the lighting in the club, and that this bonspiel alone will cover about a quarter of the costs for this first phase.
With the popularity of the shorter games, Russell said he plans to expand on Saturday’s success with another doubles bonspiel next year.
“Hopefully this is something to build on for next year,” he said.

See DOUBLES ON page three for more photos

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