Local curling club eyes provincials as gateway into the sport

Before she retired, Janet Dunkin loved to show her students one video clip every year.

It was from the 2006 Olympics: the gold medal curling match between Canada and Finland. Dunkin, a former French teacher who now curls for the Golden Ears Winter Club, used the video to introduce young people to curling, a sport commonly popular with seniors.

Curling is something you can do for the rest of your life, she told the class. It’s social, it’s exercise, and it’s a sport that doesn’t force you to sit on the bench.

Whenever she played the video in class, Dunkin focused on a shot where Canada scored six points, helping them clinch the country’s first male gold medal in curling.

“I’d say, ‘Who wants to learn how to do that?’” Dunkin said. “All the hands would go and my husband and I would drive them to the rink and teach them how to play.”

Dunkin and her husband’s club are now preparing to host the second major curling tournament in Maple Ridge since October, the B.C. Master provincial championships — an event that illustrates how curling is, in fact, a life sport.  

The Golden Ears Winter Club first eyed hosting duties last year, when Curl BC, the governing body for curling in the province, was looking for clubs to host its annual 60+ championships this year.

The tournament is a chance for the club to promote itself — and the sport — locally, Dunkin said. Prior to filling in for an Olympic qualifying event in the fall, the Masters championship was going to mark the first time the club had hosted a major tournament in 10 years. (The club previously had hosted many other provincial tournaments.)

The Olympic qualifier brought a high level of traffic to the facility, which is attached to Maple Ridge’s Planet Ice.

Although there wasn’t a huge uptick in participation, the club did have a sizable increase in its mixed doubles league following the event. And many big names had favourable things to say about the club and its building.

“I asked Jennifer Jones, ‘Did you like the ice?’ She said it was lovely,” Dunkin said. “The players were happy, management and staff were happy. I think it was a successful event.”

The Masters provincials, which officially got underway yesterday afternoon, are expected to feature 22 teams — 14 men and 8 women — of curlers over the age of 60. Winners of the tournament will represent B.C. at the Canadians Masters Curling Championship next month in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

There are three teams from the Golden Ears Winter Club, including a duo that features Dunkin’s husband, who has been curling for more than 50 years. (Dunkin started curling about 30 years ago, and the couple joined the Golden Ears Winter Club in 2019 after moving to Maple Ridge from the North Shore.)

“He’s super excited, super stoked,” said Dunkin. She added that curling is a big social outlet for her husband, and something that could interest both extroverts and introverts interested in the nuances of the game.

“There are all kinds of people who curl, some of them are introverts, but it’s a great game for people who love strategy,” Dunkin said.

Opening ceremonies and opening matches got underway yesterday afternoon. Play is scheduled to continue until Sunday afternoon, when the men’s and women’s final is expected to start at 1 p.m.

Ultimately, Dunkin said she hopes the event attracts new people to the sport and grows the club’s membership, which currently stands at around 400 curlers.

Maple Ridge, she said, is centrally located to many curling facilities like ones in Langley, Cloverdale, and Abbotsford. She said events like the Masters provincials can introduce people young and old to curling, and grow its popularity even more in the region.  

“We’re passionate about curling,” Dunkin said. “It’s a sport you can play when you’re five and play until you’re 100.”