Destination: Dumfries

Next Wednesday the team will be making the long journey up from Fenton’s Rink to Dumfries in Scotland, to compete in the 2015 English Mens Curling Championships.  The journey will be long and arduous, but we are all looking forward to visiting Scotland and competing against some of England’s best curling teams.

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!

There are 7 teams competing, and we are most certainly the new kids on the block.  Each team will compete against all of their opponents in a round-robin format, and then the top two teams will face-off in the finals to determine the champions.  Winning the competition is a tremendous honour, as that team will get to represent England at the 2015 European Curling Championships in Denmark.

While winning the competition is what every team will be aiming for (including us), it will be a great experience and our first Bonspiel on “away” ice.  The Ice Bowl in Dumfries has hosted many international curling events such as the World Senior Mens, World Senior Womens, and World Mixed Doubles championships in 2014.  For us, it will be a challenge to adapt to playing on “faster” ice with more “swing” but that is all part of the learning curve.

The town itself is home to a population of 43,600 and is situated on the river Nith.  Nicknamed “Queen Of The South”, the town is also represented by a team of the same name in the Scottish Football League.  Poet Robert Burns lived here for his entire life, and the town is twinned with Annapolis in the USA, along with Cantu in Italy and Gifhorn in Germany.

All four of us are very much looking forward to visiting Dumfries, and hope to come away with some happy memories.

Here is a summary of our schedule:

Wed 18th – Travel Day

Thur 19th – 2:00 PM v Zachary, 8:30 PM v Summers

Fri 20th – 8:30 PM v Dixon

Sat 21st – 9:00 AM v Opel, 2:00 PM v MacDougall

Sun 22nd – 9:00 AM v Dunn, Final @ 2:00 PM?

Don’t forget to subscribe to receive updates!