As a relatively small community, Salmon Arm has a big contingent at the Canada Winter Games 2011, ongoing now until Feb. 27 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In ringette, Salmon Arm has three players competing: Erika Lipsett, Jasmine El Gazzar and Brittany Burge. With a tough schedule that saw Team BC play Saskatchewan on the afternoon of Feb. 12 and then Ontario the next morning, the B.C. team was defeated 10-5 by Saskatchewan. They came back with a vengeance, though, in an exciting matchup versus Ontario. The big thrill came when the game-winning goal was scored by Lipsett. The final score, 5-4. Erika’s mother Cathy is assistant coach of the team. Erika is now B.C.’s second highest point-getter, with four goals and one assist. The team was defeated 5-2 Monday by Team Quebec. In female hockey, Salmon Arm’s Janessa Jenkins is playing for Team BC, with two games set for Feb. 20, one on Feb. 22 and one on Feb. 23. In male hockey, Salmon Arm Minor Hockey product and now-Vernon resident, Curtis Lazar, is playing for Team BC. Team BC will face Manitoba in the quarter-finals today, Feb. 16. Alysson Marshall from Salmon Arm has taken her cross-country skiing prowess to Halifax, where she’ll be competing Feb. 21, 22 and 24. Coverage and scheduling of the Games is available at www.canadagames2011.ca.

Salmon Arm Observer