The Thompson foursome of Sam Antila, Jeff Antile, Claude Hykawy and Ian Graham didn't start off great at the Traveler's men's curling club championship in Carman March 15-18, but they heated up as play went on, though not quite enough to qualify for the playoffs.
"We didn't curl very well in the first two games," skip Sam Antila told the Thompson Citizen. After that, however, the squad caught fire, winning their last three games by a combined score of 25-2 to finish with one win fewer than the two top teams in their pool, who were both 4-1.
"The team that beat us in the first game ended up winning it all," said Antila.
The Traveler's club championship is designed to give recreational curlers a chance to qualify for a national championship, something that is pretty much impossible for them to do at the men's and women's provincial bonspiels due to the presence of national- and world-calibre curlers for whom the sport is practically a full-time job.
"The Traveler's is something that has been developed to give other people a chance to curl competitively," said Antila.
The winners of this year's events qualified for the national championship in Miramichi, New Brunswick.
“It’s an event that I don’t know why we’re not getting more participation,” said Antila, noting that the only two teams who played off for the northern berth were both from the Burntwood Curling Club and he wishes there was more participation both in the north and around the province.
