By Martin Martinson

Mixed Doubles Curling coming to North Battleford

Aug 21, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The Battlefords Mixed Doubles Fall Curling Classic will take place from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3.

This is the first year of the tournament, which will serve as a precursor for the Mixed-Doubles Provincials put on yearly by CURLSASK.

Sherry Just is one of the 12 competitive curlers who are organizing the event in its inaugural year, in collaboration with CURLSASK, the governing sport-body for curling in the province.

Just said the idea for the tournament originated pretty organically as a lead-in to provincial competition.

“We just started our tour this year, so it’s all very new,” Just said. “We had mixed-doubles provincials last year, put on by CURLSASK, but there was a lot of interest [in a tournament like this]. So we just needed to find a way to give teams in Saskatchewan an opportunity to play more mixed doubles outside of the provincials, and as a way to get to provincials as well.”

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The event will feature both competitive and recreational tournaments.

Just said in addition to teams from various parts of Saskatchewan, there will also be some out-of-province competition making the trip for the weekend.  

“We have some really great teams coming for the competitive division all across Saskatchewan. We have a really good team from Alberta, [and] … a team from Manitoba as well. So there will be some very good curlers coming to take part.”

The tournament seems to be a hit in its inaugural year, as signup appears to have garnered lots of interest.

“We have at least 16 teams for the competitive division and we’re still getting teams for the recreation division, but we’re aiming for about 12 at this point,” Just said.

Registration for the competitive division has closed, but teams do still have until Thursday to register for the recreational division. To register, Just said to send an email.

Richard Pratchler, the president of the Twin Rivers Curling Club has been curling for a number of years, but said a mixed doubles tournament is a prospect he’s excited about.

“This will be my first mixed-doubles tournament,” Pratchler said. “I really got into it because we’re hosting [the tournament], and as the president of the club, I’m really interested to be coming out. We are just glad to have this deal with CURLSASK and look forward to all it will bring to the city and the Curling Club here.”

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca 

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1