Perhaps it will be fourth time lucky this year.
Kathie Jackson will take her Fort Frances rink of third Kim Beaudry, second Kelly Wagar, and lead Stacy Beacham to the provincial playdowns in Kingston at the end of January after earning their fourth-straight berth last weekend in Balmertown.
Jackson’s crew finished second up there behind Tara George of the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay but the top two teams advanced to Kingston.
The winner there advances to the Scott Tournament of Hearts in late February with the national ladies’ curling crown–and a trip to the worlds representing Canada–on the line.
“Our goal is to make the playoffs [at Kingston],” Jackson said Monday afternoon. “We are hoping something is going to go our way this time.
“Our best record at the provincial level is fourth place and only the top three go on [to the playoffs],” she noted.
But Jackson also noted it’s quite an accomplishment for a rink from a small town, where there isn’t as much competitive curling, to reach the provincials–especially four times in a row.
Meanwhile, the Raymond Roy, Lorne Jackson, and Don DeBenedet rinks of Fort Frances all advanced to the district men’s curling playdowns in Kenora on Jan. 18-21 after the western zone bonspiel in Dryden last weekend.
“I knew if we curled well, we had a good shot [of advancing],” Roy reasoned Tuesday morning. “We have been to the district playdowns at least 20 times.”
Roy said he is looking forward to it, and remarked his rink play the same conservative style as usual.
“We will play our same conservative game and hope that it works,” he noted. “It will work, we might not win, but it will work . . . as long as we execute well.”
Sixteen rinks, from Manitouwadge to the Manitoba border, will compete in Kenora, with the top three teams moving on to the provincials Feb. 6-10 in North Bay.
That winner then advances to the Brier later this winter.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
