Little rocks hit the sheet at Woodstock Curling Club
The Woodstock Golf and Curling Club came to life with curling action over the weekend.
While it may not have been the Labatt Brier, it was fairly close to the professional level for the 76 youth curlers who took part in the Woodstock Little Rocks Invitational Curling Tournament on Saturday.
Woodstock coach and tournament organizer Greg Slater said it was the first time the Woodstock Little Rocks Curling Club hosted an event like this.
Being his first year hosting a tournament, Slater wasn't disappointed, pointing out 19 teams, representing clubs from Grand Falls, Plaster Rock, Florenceville, Nackawic, Fredericton and host Woodstock, participated in the fun spiel.
The tournament also provided the children the opportunity to get some practice in before heading to the provincial tournament at the end of the month, Slater said.
"This is in preparation of the Provincial Little Rock Jamboree, which is March 28 to 30 in Moncton," he explained.
"It gets the children used to playing in a tournament atmosphere and have fun."
On the sheets, the children were having a ball, evident from the smiles on their faces and the laughter echoing through the rink. Many of them demonstrated true form and natural curling ability to rival Woodstock curling pros Mary Jane and Megan McGuire and even Fredericton's James Gratton.
When asked if they were enjoying the tournament, the children replied with a resounding "yes," before getting back into their respective draws.
Florenceville Little Rocks Morgan Edwards and Brandon Loet said they were having a blast as their rink competed against Woodstock.
It was a lot of work, but he enjoyed putting the tournament together, said Slater.
He added he was pleased with the turnout and organization of the event and expressed appreciation to his coaches, Little Rock parents and the local businesses for their support.
"It was a great response that we got," Slater said.
"I was pleased to have teams from Fredericton and Grand Falls come down, and we have had lots of support. Parents helped out with cooking and doing registration. We had local businesses make donations like Dairy Queen, McDonald's, Humpty Dumpty, Wal-Mart and Jelly Stone Park. We also received from Mary Jane and Megan McGuire family curling pins, which were great for the gift bags given out to the kids."
With the turnout and support of the weekend's tournament, Slater said plans to host more fun spiels in the future.
"Definitely we would do one next year," he added.
But for now, Slater said his club will focus its sights on the provincial tournament, noting the young curlers are excited to compete.
"They are very well prepared for it, and ready to go," he said.
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