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Island curlers aplenty vying for B.C. junior title in Parksville

The province’s 16 best teams will congregate at the Parksville Curling Club for the 2015 Tim Hortons B.C. Junior Curling Championship, beginning with practice sessions today and a round-robin format that slides out of the hack on Monday.

The province’s 16 best teams will congregate at the Parksville Curling Club for the 2015 Tim Hortons B.C. Junior Curling Championship, beginning with practice sessions today and a round-robin format that slides out of the hack on Monday.

Eight boys’ and eight girls’ teams will vie for the right to travel to Corner Brook, Nfld., Jan. 24 to Feb. 1, for the M & M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors.

“It would be a great experience for the guys. I would love to take the bunch of them out to Corner Brook, Nfld.,” coach Todd Troyer said of his Paul Henderson rink of the Victoria Curling Centre.

The Henderson team, made up of third Duncan Silversides, second Benton Boychuk-Chorney, lead Jacob Zorn and fifth man Tim Henderson, is one of two local boys’ teams in the field. The other is Connor Croteau’s split rink from the VCC and Juan de Fuca Curling Club.

Matt MacDonald is the third, Derek Chandler plays second and Scott Gray leads the team off.

Coach Bob Coulombe guides not only that boys’ team, but his daughter Mariah Coulombe’s split VCC/ JDF rink of third Bailey Tinkler, second Jordan Koster and lead Sydney Brilz on the girls’ side.

There are other ties to the Island among the girls’ field.

Nanaimo’s Marika Van Osch plays third for Sarah Daniels’ Delta Thistle/Royal City Curling Club team, one of the favourites in the field and the defending champs.

Shawna Jensen’s team consists of curlers from Powell River/ JDF/Delta Curling Club. Katherine Silversides of Victoria is third on that rink which is rounded out by second Michaela Douglas, lead Rebecca Douglas and fifth Sarah Douglas.

Another team to beat in girl’s play could very well be Corryn Brown’s Kamloops rink, coached by Allison MacInnes. Brown finished second in the event last year, but in 2013 won the Canadian Junior.

As for the boys’ field, it could be a shootout, with many newcomers on board.

“I think the boys’ teams are all pretty close together,” Troyer said. “I think the A-qualifier at our Coastal Playdowns, the [Cody] Tanaka rink, curled very well to earn their spot. But I also think my team has a very good chance.

“Our goal is to get to the playoffs and from there anything can happen,” added Troyer. “Most of the junior boy’s teams are pretty equally matched, though.”

Admission to the championships is free and more information about the event can be found at parksvillecurling.com.

“It’s going to be a lot like a Canadian championship with stands out there near the ice. So the curlers are going to have to get used to the cheering and hollering,” said Troyer.

Games begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, followed by opening ceremonies at 12:30 p.m. and two more draws at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

There will be three draws a day with boys’ and girls’ semi-finals set for Friday.

Championship finals will be played Jan. 3, at 9 a.m. for the girls and 1:30 p.m. for the boys, with both broadcast on TV by Sportsnet.

mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com

Twitter/tc_vicsports