The Strathcona Cup, first established back in 1903, features curlers from Scotland vs. Canadians in a series of friendly games, held every five years, alternating between countries.
This year’s event begins Jan. 10 at the North Shore Winter Club before moving on the next day to both the Vancouver Curling Club and Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.
Vancouver Island will play host to four stops, starting at the Qualicum and District Curling Club on Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. The tour heads down Island to Victoria where games are set for Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. at Esquimalt Curling Club, with two stops the next day at the Victoria Curling Centre at 9 a.m. and the Glen Meadows Golf and Country Club at 1 p.m.
Organizers are encouraging fans to welcome the Strathcona Cup West touring group.
“We’re hoping to give the Strathcona Cup curlers a warm welcome. That’s why we’re encouraging as many people as possible to come out to their nearest club and support the event,” Bruce Beveridge, a North Shore resident and former Quebec curling champion from 1967, said in a release.
“Not all the players will be curling at the same time, so you will have the opportunity to talk to the visiting teams.”
The B.C. portion of the tour will take the competitors to the Greater Vancouver area, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast and then move eastward through Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
On the West Coast, the group will also stop at Tunnel Town Curling Club, Hollyburn Country Club and Powell River Curling Club, totalling 11 B.C. visits.
The Strathcona Cup is named after Lord Strathcona — Sir Donald Alexander Smith — who was the president of the Royal Caledonia Curling Club at the turn of the last century.
A central and eastern tour will also take place separately through Ontario and the Maritimes with points tallied across the country. The cherished Strathcona Cup, engraved with silver Celtic symbols, permanently remains in Scotland, considered too valuable to move back and forth every five years.
