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The Canadian curling world has converged on Kelowna this week for the eighth annual Travelers Championship.
It’s the first year that this tournament has come to the Kelowna Curling Club and it’s meant for club level curlers who haven’t had a chance to represent their province over the past five years.
“They’re really genuinely club curlers,” explained Jock Tyre, GM of the Kelowna Curling Club. “They’re not intended to be competitive curlers.”
It’s not an easy task to earn the right to represent your province at the Travelers Championship. Teams must first win their club championships, regionals, zones and finally they have to win their provincial championship.
That means there are 28 teams here this week. A men's and women's team from each province and territory, as well as an extra two teams representing Nothern Ontario.
According to Tyre, it’s not just the curling club that this tournament has an impact on, but the entire city of Kelowna.
“It’s brought people from all across the country to see our city and people are just so impressed with not just the environment and climate, but the people and the friendliness and how much they’re enjoying the town,” Tyre said. “I think it does open it up to tourism and bringing some people back in the near future.”
A prime example of that is a large group of ladies wearing matching black sweatshirts and orange pants. They’re here from both Manitoba and Alberta to support their sister, daughter and niece, Diane Christensen, as she competes for Team Manitoba.
The sweaters all say “Diane is 50” because Christensen turns 50 on Thursday and the whole gang is here to celebrate.
“All of her sisters are here, there are seven sisters, and her mom and her aunt, but she doesn’t like a lot of attention drawn to her so we’re keeping it cool,” said Sharon Hul, one of the seven sisters.
Tyre says the family atmosphere has been constant so far this week and people have been showing up in large numbers to watch the games. It’s free to get in all week and there’s still a few days of action left.
The final two round robin draws are Thursday with the playoff matchups happening on Friday and Saturday, with two east coast teams defending their championships. Newfoundland and Labrador won the 2015 title on the men’s side, while Prince Edward Island took home the trophy on the women’s side.
For more information on the Travelers Championship and draw times for the rest of the week, go to www.curling.ca/2016travelers/
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