Pool league welcomes new teams this season

The Fort Frances Monday night mixed pool league has added two new teams this season.
Now boasting a full complement of eight teams and around 75 players, president Heather Gunderson said the league is on solid ground as it sets to enter its fourth week of play Monday.
And because the league continues until the end of March (with playoffs to follow), Gunderson noted more players can still register to become “spares” on one of the existing teams.
The cutoff date for people signing up to play in the league is “around Christmas time,” she noted. Those interested can contact one of the team captains.
“You have to have a minimum of six players on each team but there’s no maximum,” said Gunderson, estimating the league has been together for at least the past five years.
“The average is about eight [players] per team but some have just six and some have as many as 14,” she noted.
The league, which has attracted teams from Red Gut Bay, Couchiching, Emo, and Fort Frances, plays every Monday from 7-9 p.m. at the White Pine, Red Dog Inn, Rainy Lake Hotel, and the Fort Frances Curling Club.
Teams play a total of 18 games each night at a cost of $24.
Gunderson said the league is a “recreational” one, which sees a mixture of men and women. In fact, each team must have a steady balance of either four men and two women or four women and two men to play each game.
League standings (as of Oct. 6) has Butch Wensley’s team in first place with 38 points, two ahead of Blondie McLean’s team (36) and three ahead of Julie Smith’s (35).
Rounding out the field are Ray Lawson (26), Wayne Anderson (23), Carolyn Jourdain (16), Darlene Curci (16+), and Fred Wilson (0).
On top of league play, teams also will take part in three tournaments throughout the season at a cost of $60 per team. The first one is slated Dec. 6 although the location hasn’t been finalized).
Gunderson said tournament rules differ from league play, with the double-elimination format seeing each team “racing” to become the first to earn seven wins.