Reaching very near the top, the local Myrden Rink’s next destination is Alaska.
Their invitation to the Alaska Cash Spiel comes after placing second at the April 20 to 24 Pacific International Club Challenge in Richmond.
“It’s hard. You’re playing with some very good curlers,” skip Diane Myrden said, of the Pacific International Club Challenge. “It’s very emotional. Everything was… It’s such a big deal, and they treated us like royalty. It was absolutely fabulous.”
The gold medal game against Comox was a close one, Myrden said, with the game coming down to the eighth end.
“They just ended up making shots in the eighth end,” she said. The game ended 6-5.
But, the Myrden Rink wasn’t disappointed.
“It was a good game. They all were,” Myrden said. “We were so happy with the outcome.”
Myrden is also quick to thank a number of local sponsors for making the rink’s trip to Richmond a reality.
The team faced two challenges. For one, the ice was taken out at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena’s curling rinks a few weeks in advance of the bonspiel. This meant the team went without practice for a few weeks beforehand.
Secondly, the team’s second, Kari McKinlay, was eight months pregnant.
“Kari did great, and she didn’t have the baby,” Myrden said.
In order to relieve some pressure from the very pregnant team member, fifth Lynn Post was added to the team.
The Myrden Rink’s qualification to the Pacific International Club Challenge came after the rink placed first in the South Island Challenge at the Kerry Park Curling Club, in March.
Although placing silver at the Pacific International Club Challenge isn’t enough to qualify the team for November’s Dominion Curling Club Challenge, it was enough to net them an invite to the Alaska Cash Spiel, which will also be held in November.
“We all want to go,” Myrden said.
With the ice coming in by the third week of August, the team will get plenty of practice in, in time for the Cash Spiel, if they end up able to go. Although expenses there are paid for, they must find a way to get to Alaska.
The International Club Challenge was a first for the Cowichan Rocks Curling Club, as it was the first time a local team has made it that far.
