Vancouver Curling Club

Summer Newsletter

Registration opens on July 1

Are you looking forward to the 2024/2025 curling season as much as we are? Sure, the only ice you are thinking about right now is the cubes keeping your drinks nice and chilled, but on Monday, July 1 registration will open for some member-run leagues and all our club-run leagues and programs.

Some member-run leagues will have wait lists open for those who didn’t curl in them this past season but want to this coming season. Those leagues will be sending links to private registration forms at a later date for those who curled this past season.

Certain registrations tend to fill up quickly, such as novice leagues and learn-to-curl programs. So, be sure to secure your spot and register yourself as early as possible. Visit the applicable league or program page on the VCC website.

Patrick Prade promoted to executive director

Vancouver Curling Club is proud to be one of the largest curling clubs in the world, and we just keep growing! To support this growth we have recognized some changes need to be made, particularly with staffing and our organizational structure. Patrick Prade has done such great work as General Manager that the board of directors is pleased to announce that Patrick has accepted a promotion to a new role as Executive Director of Vancouver Curling Club. As ED Patrick will maintain focus on VCC’s mission to be a leader in community-focused curling.

For those of you who don’t know, Patrick was hired in 2021 as general manager with the daunting task of re-opening VCC post COVID closures. In three short years we have seen huge growth with our membership numbers, our annual revenue, a large increase to staffing, and of course the addition of a partner facility with Marpole Curling Club. We are excited to see what we can all accomplish together next!

We are hiring

One of the changes following Patrick Prade's promotion to executive director is the creation of a new general manager's position at VCC. We are also looking to fill a Kitchen & Catering Manager role to help run the Marpole Diner. Know anyone who you think would be great for the job? For more information, visit the VCC website.

Five-year operating agreement signed with Marpole CC

We are doing things differently at Vancouver Curling Club, and can boast that we may be the first curling club to ever operate two curling facilities. While other clubs around Canada are closing, we are looking to see how we can expand to support the growth and health of the sport we love.

This expansion felt obvious when we finished the 2022/2023 season with 97% ice utilization. Even if we had wanted to provide more practice time, expand a league and grow our youth programming, we didn’t have anywhere to put more curlers! The initial partnership with Marpole Curling Club started last summer and by the end of the 2023/2024 season we feel like the trial run was a success. Yes, there are many things that we are excited to do differently moving forward (we are hiring more staff!) but overall we feel that this partnership has been very rewarding with both clubs seeing an increase in membership satisfaction in the year end surveys.

To ensure stability moving forward, the board of directors from each club, our executive director and a few lawyers recently finalized the paperwork, agreeing to a five-year operating agreement. If you haven’t done so already, we recommend you check out the practice ice and the new kitchen at Marpole this fall.

Record response to annual membership survey

Thank you to all who took the time to provide your valuable feedback through our end-of-season membership survey. We had a record number of responses, and are taking our time to sift through the data and ensure that we are looking at it while we make plans for next season. We will be providing an FAQ with answers to the most commonly asked questions, along with some additional highlights, but in the meantime we would like to announce the lucky draw winners of a $50 Curling I/O credit:

Ken Naumann
Cameron Corazza
Ron McKay
Reg Lightfoot

April Newsletter

B&B team wins VCC Championship

VCC Champs

Slider In - B&B League, left to right: skip Danny Laurence, third Kyle Vance, second Sam Orr, lead Kristin Defer, fifth Nathan van der Molen-Pater

A team of curlers from the Friday night B&B League are the 2023-24 VCC champions. The Slider In squad defeated the PRCL team Oh My Guard, skipped by Scott Robertson, in the A event final. Robertson is a former VCC Championship winner.

This year, for the first time, the championship was divided into two 16-team divisions, based on league team performances in last year's championship. The winners of the inaugural President's Cup are the Wade Carpenter team from the Purple & Gold League. They defeated a Motors League team skipped by Robin Wong in the A event final.

The draw and results from both events can be viewed at VCC Championship.xlsx. Click on the tabs at the bottom to move between the two draws.

Prez Cup

Andrew Forshner (far right) VCC president, presents the new President's Cup to skip Wade Carpenter(far left), third Dusan Milovanovic, second Cher Choi, and lead Jon Benjamin.

VCC curlers support Marpole CC partnership

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the member feedback survey regarding the Marpole Curling Club partnership. We're thrilled to share that the results show overwhelming support for the partnership, with 62% of respondents viewing the partnership as favourable to VCC and its members. It is also great to see that 46% of respondents have utilized the Marpole CC facilities this past season.

Looking ahead, please keep an eye on your inbox for the end-of-season member survey that will be sent out before the end of April.

VCC junior coach wins curling scholarship

Erin

Erin Fitzgibbon, a junior and little rockers coach at VCC and a BC champion, is this year's recipient of the Gordon Hooey Memorial Scholarship. Click here for the Curl BC story.

Volunteer for the Invictus Games next February at VCC

volunteers

VCC will be closed to league curling Feb. 6-12 next season while hosting the wheelchair curling event in the Invictus Games. You can sign up to volunteer for wheelchair curling or any other sport by visiting the Invictus Games volunteer program webpage.

Recognizing league champions

Each year, most VCC leagues declare a league champion for the season. Here are some of our league champions from the 2023-24 season.

Engineers' League

Engineers League champs

Left to right: Warren Banks, Kent Martin, Aidan Shirley, Al Lens (skip). The Lens team defeated the Curtis Brock team in the A playoff final. The B event winning team, skipped by Art Bailey, went the whole season undefeated until they lost a playoff game to Brock. Al Lens has been working as an ice tech at VCC and Marpole CC this season, but will be returning to Merritt next season to be the curling club's ice technician.

Purple & Gold

Purple Gold champs

Stone Cold Crazy, left to right: Mark Lee, Guido Amantea, Ian Baart (skip), Oren Samuel, Sara Kohan

VCC Senior Men

VCC seniors

The VCC Senior Men’s League has a points-based competition amongst its members, with points earned for wins and ties as curlers are placed on different teams throughout the season. This year there was a tie, so the Fletcher Cup was presented to co-winners Tim Ma (left) and John Sinclair (right).

Pharmacists and Travellers

Pharmacists

Left to right: Michael Kuss (skip), Jericho Bond (lead), Adam Klaassen (third), Margaret Hilson (second), Ian Sauder (presenting the award)

Blind and Visually Impaired

Blind

Left to right: Dave Vis, Pat Willing, Monica Nelson, Henry Vis, Fraser Hiltz. The Blind League sent a strong team to Edmonton for the Westerns, hosted by the Granite Club. Skipped by Fraser Hiltz, Henry Vis as third, Dave Vis as second, Monica Nelson as lead, and coached and guided by Pat Willing, they had an undefeated record in the round robin. In the semi-finals, they were half an inch away from an eight ender. However, in the finals they lost to the other BC team from Prince George, but it was a hard fought match.

Motors League

Motors

Left to right: James Gardner (second), Floyd Bardell (lead), Patrick Prade (skip), Vitor Melo (fifth), Bobby Dubeau (third)

Granville Island

Granville Island2

Left to right: Andy Anderson, William Hui, Megan Muir, Neil Blackadar (skip), Morris Wai

Sunday Open

Left to right: Chris Brown (skip), Tony Cheong (third), Sandra Oh (second), Jen Lucas (lead)

February Newsletter

Harry and Meghan visit VCC

prince harry 1 6772469 1708117470443

Prince Harry tries out wheelchair curling at VCC on Friday, Feb. 16. He and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, were at VCC to celebrate curling at the Invictus Games in February of next year. Photo from CTV news. Click here for the full story.

Grandy team at the Scotties in Calgary

Grandy Team

The Clancy Grandy team is in Calgary, representing BC at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Feb. 16-25. The VCC team has won the BC Scotties two years in a row. They have picked up former Brier and world champion Marcel Rocque, from the Randy Ferbey team, to coach them for the event. Left to right are lead Sarah Loken, second Lindsay Dubue, third Kayla MacMillan and skip Clancy Grandy.

Erin leads BC U18 women to sixth place at the national championship

VCC coach Erin Fitzgibbon (centre) skipped her BC1 team into the playoffs at the Canadian U18 Championship in Ottawa, Feb. 4-10, after finishing with a 4-2 record in pool round robin play. The team won 6-4 over New Brunswick1 in their first playoff game, then lost 11-4 to Nova Scotia1 to be eliminated from a medal finish. They reached the Consolation A final to finish sixth overall in the 21-team field. The team would like to thank those who supported them and followed their play during the championship.

Charity Skins Bonspiel

There are still a couple of spots left in the Barry Naimark Charity Skins Bonspiel. Registration.

We need your help for the Charity Skins Bonspiel

The annual Barry Naimark Charity Skins Bonspiel is an opportunity for our sport, our club and our members to use the power of sport and our community to contribute to a local charity where we feel we can make a significant impact. To help make the bonspiel a success, the events committee is asking VCC members if they can support the bonspiel and the charity with the donation of a product or service.

Your donation can be anything from a gift certificate or service to branded or unique merchandise. All funds raised through the silent auction at the March bonspiel and raffle of your donations are passed directly on to the Camp Choice BC, this year's charity recipient. If you would like to donate, have questions or require more information, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Don't be sad, you can still curl in a league in April!

ice rink

A curling rink without ice is a sad place! Delay your sadness due to league play ending by joining one of our spring leagues in April.

VCC team won the Brier and world championship 60 years ago

Dagg

Left to right: skip Lyall Dagg, third Leo Hebert, second Fred Britton, lead Barry Naimark

It's now been 60 years since the Lyall Dagg team won the 1964 Brier and world championship, the lone VCC team to do so. To mark the anniversary, we present the following links:

BC Sports Hall of Fame

Curling Canada Hall of Fame

Calgary Herald story from world championship

March Newsletter

VCC curlers win BC Curling Club Championship

Club Champions

Congratulations to Team Guignard for winning the BC Curling Club Championship, Mar. 6-10 in Kamloops. The team is made up of VCC members - skip Jeff Guignard (far left), third Chris Faa, second Patrick Prade and lead Chris Gomes. They curl in a league at Richmond CC, but wear VCC team jackets! All four team members have lost previous BC Curling Club Championship final games in past seasons, so this win will feel good. They will represent BC at the 2024 Everest Funeral Concierge Canadian Curling Club Championships, Nov. 17-23 in Barrie, Ontario.

25th Barry Naimark Charity Skins Bonspiel

The 25th annual Barry Naimark Charity Skins Bonspiel, Mar. 8-10, raised over $4500 for Camp Choice BC. Thirty-two teams took part, including three from Marpole CC and one from Denver.

A Event Winners

A event

Hack Jobs, left to right: Conran Cosgrove, Al Masson, Alan Ehrenholz, Kevin Jeffers

B Event Winners

B event

TeamDubeau: Bobby Dubeau, Floyd Bardell, Alex Volkov, Vito Melo, Bryan Wagner

C Event Winners

C event

My Broom is Hollow, left to right: Kevin Rathberger, Eric Cessford, Rob Berg, Tom Sayer

D Event Winners

Sweeping Beauties and the Beast, left to right: Sanya Oh, Cher Choi, Jon Benjamin, Wade Carpenter

Thank you note from Camp Choice BC

On behalf of everyone at Camp Choice BC, we are immensely grateful for the support and generosity shown through the 25th Barry Naimark Charity Skins Bonspiel. The remarkable effort of raising over $4,500 goes beyond just a monetary contribution; it represents a beacon of hope and opportunity for vulnerable youth at risk.

A heartfelt thank you to each of the 32 teams that participated, including our guests from Denver, for their competitive spirit and camaraderie. Your involvement is a testament to the power of community and collective action. Our volunteers, staff, and sponsors deserve our deepest appreciation for their commitment and hard work that ensured the success of this event.

This generous donation will enable our camp to proceed in August at Zajac Ranch for Children, a vital step in providing these young individuals with a nurturing and empowering environment. The experiences and memories created at the ranch are invaluable, offering a chance for growth, learning, and joy that every child deserves.

We are so grateful for your contribution to making this possible. It is through the kindness and dedication of communities like ours that we can make a significant difference in the lives of those who need it the most. Thank you once again for your generosity and for believing in our mission. Together, we are creating a brighter future for vulnerable youth at risk.

Spring league curling available for both regular and doubles curling

Spring league curling was a hit when we tried it last year, so we're offering it again this season. There are regular curling leagues on either Monday/Wednesday evenings or Tuesday/Thursday evenings. Plus, we've also added a new spring doubles league at 9:00 pm on Tuesdays.

VCC hosting Curl BC competition coach course with a discount for women

Curl BC has received a Via Sport coach legacy grant that is designed to remove barriers in coaching and promote woman in coaching. As a result, VCC will be hosting a Curl BC competition coach course on the Apr. 6-7 weekend that offers women a 70 percent discount. Just go to the link below and type in coachlegacy in the discount code space. Men are welcome to register at the normal price of $184.40.

The lead facilitator will be VCC member and former coach Heather Beatty. Competition coach credentials allow you to coach a team at a provincial championship, be an instructor at events like Curl BC Rockslide Camps, gain valuable knowledge and skills to start or continue your coaching journey, understand and implement the national standards in coaching, and also join the VCC coaching staff. Contact Richard Brower at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in coaching at VCC.

Registration link: https://bc.curling.io/en/products/7709-competition-coach-course-vancouver-curling-club-2024

St. George's curlers win BC high school title

Congratulations to the St. George's boys' team that won the BC high school curling championship in Kelowna, Feb 28 to Mar. 2, defeating Salmon Arm 9-8 in the final. The St. George's team, skipped by Cameron Heng (centre), curls on Wednesdays after school at VCC.

VCC junior curlers win bronze at BC Winter Games

Junior curlers from the Vancouver Club represented zone 5 at the 2024 BC Winter Games in Quensnel and came home with a bronze medal. The boys' team, coached by Suzanne Malfair, had skip Brody Dhaliwal, third Sean Brennan, second Jericho Bond and lead Aldan Wong. Congratulations!

Curling Day in Canada: Draw to the Button

We had a great time during Curling Day in Canada on Feb. 24, trying out Canada's Big Shootout! VCC participants covered the pin six times with draws from Kevin Jeffers, Brian Weinfeld, Robin Wong, Angelica Perez Anzures, Soren Hau and Patick Prade. Watch here.

Last chance to book a rental for April

As we wind down the curlng season, we still have event rentals available, with a 10 per cent discount, in April. Book your spot here.

Canadians' baseball season brings parking restrictions

The Vancouver Canadians start up their season in April, meaning parking restrictions come into place for Hillcrest Centre users. Home game days are April 9-14 and April 23-28. Be aware that you may have to park on the street or pay for parking on those days.

Grandy team repeats as BC champs