By Robb Fenton
It’s been a fixture in the city for four years now and the organizers have made sure the fifth edition will be a memorable one.
The annual Whitney Field Classic Junior Curling Bonspiel begins this weekend and with more local teams, added prize money and an exciting field of junior curlers, it will no doubt be a hit once again.
“We’re all very excited. It’s the fifth year already, it’s hard to believe, but it’s pretty exciting,” Lindsay Field, one of the many organizers said, Monday.
Although the bonspiel keeps the same basics year-to-year, the fifth year should be a special one.
“Because it’s the fifth year, we’ve increased the prize money. Top prize for the boys and girls is $2,500,” Field said.
The bonspiel is always exciting for the participants because they can see who they will likely face in provincials and in other bonspiels throughout the year, but for this year’s Classic, the local interest is one of the big drawing points Field hopes to use to attract fans.
“We have the reigning boys champs back, Mike and Tyson Armstrong, they’re of course locals and we have four local teams. This is the first year that we’ve had four local teams, so that’s something to look forward to that we have” Field said. “We have that junior interest that’s back in the city. That’s something that I’m looking forward to anyway.”
With the added prize money, the organizing group is able to follow through with a plan they had set out from the beginning of the event five years ago.
“It was something that we said, when it hits the fifth year, we would increase the prize money,” she said.
With the unfortunate cancellation of the Wayside Curling Classic, Field is hoping the Whitney Field draws a lot of local curling fans out who can see their friends, family and fellow Lloydminster area residents compete.
“Some of the local curlers coming to watch, especially with the local boys and girls on some teams in the tournament, will be great,” Field said.
To go along with the Armstrongs returning, Field pointed out that the Makichuk rink is one of the bigger names that fans may recognize from the area.
“We have some of the up and coming junior curlers in the area coming to play,” Field said. “It just happened, I’m not really sure why, but we have a good bunch of people with the Lloydminster Curling Club that are running a good junior program and they are really encouraging kids to curl competitively.”
Keeping Whitney’s memory alive is obviously the goal of this event, but it is also to celebrate talented young curlers who now have the chance to play in a big bonspiel in their hometown, something Whitney wanted to do, but never got the opportunity.
“I think it’s very important. Whitney loved to curl competitively and we were talking the other day about how when her team used to go to bonspiels, they would have to leave town and they always asked ‘why can’t we have a junior bonspiel here?’” Field said. “That’s why we can have local curlers curling in a big bonspiel, I think that’s important.”
The first draw is set for Friday at 4 p.m. at the Lloydminster Communiplex, with games running all weekend.