Skip Brent Pierce, third Andrew Bilesky,second Steve Kopf, lead Rhys Gamache (of Langley) fifth Jamie McTavish, and coach Derek Errington (not in picture) are off to Parksville this week to compete in the men’s provincial curling championships and to vie for a spot in the Briers March 3 to 11 on the Prairies. (Special to the Langley Advance)

Skip Brent Pierce, third Andrew Bilesky,second Steve Kopf, lead Rhys Gamache (of Langley) fifth Jamie McTavish, and coach Derek Errington (not in picture) are off to Parksville this week to compete in the men’s provincial curling championships and to vie for a spot in the Briers March 3 to 11 on the Prairies. (Special to the Langley Advance)

Langley curler playing Island ice anxious to swap beach for Brier

A New Westminster-based team will fight 11 other rinks for chance to play Regina in early March.

Langley curler Rhys Gamache, playing lead for one of 12 rinks in this coming week in Parksville, is hoping Team Peirce can take it from the beach to the Brier.

From Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, the Vancouver Island community is hosting the 2018 BC Men’s Curling Championships, with the winner earning a spot in the Briers in Regina in March.

Team Pierce, which practises out of the Royal City Club in New Westminster, features world champion, national, and three-time B.C. men’s champion skip Brent Pierce, along with Gamache, second Steve Kopf, third Andrew Bilesky, fifth Jamie McTavish, and coach Derek Errington.

Team Pierce came second in the Yukon Men’s Curling Championships last year, losing out on a chance to attend the Briers thanks to Whitehorse’s Team Solberg on the final rock, 7-6.

Results can be followed online.

Langley Advance