Destination: Dumfries – 2016

Tomorrow we will be making the long journey north to return to Dumfries, Scotland, for the 2016 English Men’s National Curling Championships.  After finishing 7th with an 0-5 record in our debut appearance last year, Team Rees are looking to take the next step forward in our development with a few wins this time around.

Many are confused and ask why an English National Championship isn’t actually being played in England.  Well, Fenton’s Rink on the border of Kent & Sussex hosts the event from time to time, but because it is the only dedicated curling rink in England, some Scottish venues are used to appease English curlers based in the north.  Many of them that live near Scotland have to travel there to curl for their league matches, as it would be impossible for them to travel regularly to play at Fenton’s.  We all feel very blessed to have the only curling rink in England so close!

Unfortunately Vincent can’t join us on this occasion, and so Joe Sugden will be stepping up to throw Second stones.  Joe has progressed tremendously as part of the Beacon Curling programme and is one of the best junior curlers in England.  Owen, James, and Stephen will know from playing here in 2015 that the competition is fierce and to win any match will require us all to be playing at our best.

Like last year, there are 7 teams competing, although they are not the same.  Team Summers have not returned, which is a shame as we were looking forward to playing them once more…this was one of our narrow defeats last year.  New this year are Team Taylor, and Team Havercroft who are skipped by the only returning member from last year’s Team Zachary. Defending Champions Team MacDougall will be the favourites once again, but we are excited to play Team Dixon for our first match as we only last to them on the very last stone in 2015 and are seeking retribution.

While winning the competition is what every team will be aiming for (including us), it will be a great experience and our first Bonspiel together as a group of 4.  We have our own individual and team targets, and if we meet those we will be thrilled.

We will be staying at different accomodation this time, so it will be interesting to see how we adjust to our new surroundings…but knowing the town and where to find some good food are important details we are already familiar with.

All four of us are very much looking forward to the competition this year.  For Joe it will be his first Men’s competition, and for Owen, James, and Stephen we will be looking to improve on last year’s performance.  At least one game will be streamed live on the “Dumfries Curling” YouTube channel, but we won’t know which one until the competition begins…keep your eyes peeled for an update on which of our games will be on!

Here is a summary of our schedule:

Wed 17th – Travel Day, 8:00 PM Practice Ice

Thur 18th – 9:00 AM Practice Ice, 2:00 PM v Dixon, 7:00 PM v Havercroft

Fri 19th – 2:00 PM v Taylor, 7:00 PM v Dunn

Sat 20th – 9:00 AM Practice Ice, 2:00 PM v MacDougall

Sun 21st – 9:00 AM v Opel, Final @ 2:00 PM?

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