Curlers qualify for provincials

December 17, 2013 · 0 Comments

Peter Kamstra of Team LaPlante delivers his rock in this past weekend’s Provincial Zone Qualifier Event held at the Trisan arena. Team LaPlante consisted of Jody LaPlante Skip, Dave Barber as Vice, Peter Kamstra 2nd, and Dan Steenhoek as Lead and will now represent the King Curling Club in Trenton in January for the Men’s Provincial Zone Championships.

By Shellee Morning
The King Curling Club hosted the Ontario Curling Association Provincial Qualifier this past weekend with many teams from the surrounding areas. The club is very proud to have three men’s teams entered in the double knock-out event, all hoping to move onto the next round for the Provincial Zones at Trenton in January.
Opening games began on Saturday with 8 ends of great strategy, control, and accurate weight.
Team Groombridge consisted of Doug Groombridge, Wilf Robinson, Matthew Keffer and John Hakner. A tight first match for the Groombridge squad found them going end for end with a decision-making shot in the last end for the heartfelt loss of game one. A strong comeback in game two in B Division put them back in the winning column against Team Acton. Down to skip rocks in their 3rd and final game, the Groombridge team played very well but shook hands to a loss ending their round.
Team LaPlante consisted of Jody LaPlante, Dave Barber, Peter Kamstra and Dan Steenhoek.
“The difference between impossible and possible, lies in a person’s determination.”
Determination is exactly what Team LaPlante accomplished and it paid off.
Game one saw the LaPlante team fall behind after 6 ends but stole a point in both the 7th and 8th forcing an extra 9th end for an exciting come-back win. Game two ended in a loss and a move to the B-division.
A must-win in game three to stay alive against Orangeville, Team LaPlante needed to be sharp and on their game. Down by 2 with the hammer heading into the 8th things got very interesting for the men of King. With a “picked” stone from each team, Laplante was able to place their guards and remove stones when needed. A determined Orangeville team that could hit any rock anywhere, played a hard strategic match. When the last rock was thrown, LaPlante stole 3 for the win and more importantly qualified to play in Trenton.
Skip Jody LaPlante commented “that it was a total team effort, and the guys really played well.” He also added: “The teams here at this event were very evenly matched which produced some really great curling.”
Team Davis, led by Karl Davis along with Steve Broad, Joe Dunato and Scott Boynton, also found great curling action in their qualifier debut. The Davis team played very well with excellent execution of rock delivery and beautiful draws to the button. Although the team did not finish as they had hoped, Davis played well and had a great experience with some great calibre of curling.
The King Curling Club congratulates all of the men that participated in this prestigious event and wish Team LaPlante Good Luck in Trenton!

Men’s league play

As the first round of Men’s League play came to an end, if there was one thing that was very evident, it was that any team can win on any given night.
The Team of Jody LaPlante, Peter Kamstra, Dan Steenhoek and Dave Barber were the exception until Monday when they took a 6-1 beating from Team Frans. They had run the table in the first round with only a tie as a small blemish on an otherwise perfect record, and they remain the team to beat.
Team Davis, a past champion and perennial front-runner, has had a couple of blips this year with loses to Laplante and Sheardown and a tie with the Young Bucks (Team Tim Gerrits) but have picked up the pace and found their game as of late. The rest of the pack is tightly bunched with Sidon, Sheardown, Frans and the Gerrits boys welcoming Boynton, Howard, Smith and Krauter to A Division for second round play.
Some hard, close-fought loses pushed last year’s champion Doug Groombridge and his new team along with Hampton, George Gerrits and Fraser Macdonald down to the B level for the time being. The shot making in men’s league has continued to improve with many doubles and tight draws made in just about every game. One missed played guard or takeout can be the difference between winning and losing.
A big thanks to head ice maker Kyle Duck and the arena staff who have given us professional quality ice to play on.
At the end of round one the Men’s League standings were as follows were 8 points for a win, 6 for a tie and 4 for a loss:
A Division – Jody LaPlante, 70; Karl Davis, 62; Larry Sheardown, 56; John Frans, 56; Mike Sidon, 54; Tim Gerrits, 48; George Gerrits, 48; Doug Groombridge, 48; Bob Hampton, 46 and Fraser Macdonald, 44.
B Division – Scott Boynton, 68; Gary Howard, 64; Jim Smith, 62; Blair Krauter, 60; David Livingstone, 54; John Phillips, 52; Alan Scott, 52; Roy Wright, 44; Dave Kolb, 40 and Ian Witherspoon, 40.