A blind curling team from 100 Mile House Curling Club showed skill and determination to earn a fourth-place finish at the 2013 Blind Curling Western Canadian Championships.
The tournament took place in Regina on March 12-17, with six teams representing the western Canadian provinces.
100 Mile House entered the competition as the British Columbia champion, and B.C. runner-up, Prince George also played in the provincials and ended up in second place overall.
Alberta #1 won the Western championship.
The Prince George team won four of its five games, including a decisive 15-3 victory over 100 Mile in its opening contest.
100 Mile skip Jim Vinson has nothing but praise for the other B.C. team.
“They’re pretty smart curlers. They know we like to play a draw game and they made us play takeout. We haven’t been doing it long enough to be good, but our draws are pretty good.”
He notes their game was a good one, although the score reflected it poorly.
100 Mile enjoyed an 8-5 win over a Saskatchewan team and a victory over the Alberta #2 team as well, for a record of two wins and three losses.
The team’s fourth-place finish was a step up from its eighth-place result last season at the 2012 Westerns, and Vinson says he is pleased with the progress they’ve made this year.
“We’re getting there. The calibre of talent there is just incredible. You wouldn’t believe these people are blind at all. The final games were as good as a lot of sighted championships you’d watch.”
Vinson has been curling for several years, but the rest of his team is relatively green. Lead Katelyn Vanderburgh, second Marilyn Vinson, third Lori Fry, and sighted guide Joey Seiler have only been playing together for the past three years.
Vinson says the Western championship rules allow for a sighted player in the second rock position, but the team’s four players are all legally blind.
“That’s our choice. We’re a blind curling team. That’s what we started out to be and that’s what we do.”
Having the opportunity to compete in a sport with other blind people is important to him, he adds.
“There’s not a lot of sports blind people can play. Being with other visually impaired people is easy and it’s comfortable.”
