Team Bibby needed to pull off three straight victories to take home the Curling Club Women’s Provincial championship on the weekend, and the Prince Albert rink was able to pull it off.
Team Bibby finished the weekend as provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Team Frolek from the Twin Rivers Curling Club.
Team Bibby consisted of skip Trish Bibby, Third Jaime Smith-Windsor, Second Melanie Heleta, Lead Donna Campbell and Alternate Linda Bjork.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Bibby says she was incredibly excited to be able to take home a provincial crown.
“For three of us, Melanie Heleta, Jaime Smith-Windsor and Donna Campbell, this is their first ever provincial win, so it’s very exciting. The club championships are built on a sense of camaraderie, sportsmanship and friendship. I’m so proud of the girls, I’m so proud of the teamwork that they exhibited and the perseverance. Mel and I have curled together for two years, Jamie and I for three years, but Donna Campbell and I, we’ve been curling in this event now for eight years together. I’m absolutely thrilled to be representing the province of Saskatchewan with these girls on the national stage.”
Going into the provincial playdowns, Team Bibby needed to make a lineup change. Alternate Linda Bjork joined the team and threw some key rocks throughout the weekend.
In the final, Team Bibby pulled out a single point in the eighth and final end to pull out the victory. Bibby says it was an incredible feeling when they found out they won.
“We had to change the lineup for provincials this weekend, Jaime is expecting. She’s seven months along and in the last couple of weeks, sweeping just hasn’t been an option for her. Jamie was actually calling the game. I was still skipping, I was still throwing the last rocks. In the last end, we were coming home with the hammer tied up. We knew we only needed to score that one point, but it still came down to a four foot draw, and there had to be a measure. We did win on the measure, I can’t even tell you what it felt like when the measure came in our favour.”
In round robin play, Team Bibby finished in a tie for third place with a 2-2 record. Going into the final game of the round robin, Team Bibby faced a must win against Team O’Grady from the Lloydminster Curling Club in order to qualify for the playoff bracket. Single points in the seventh and eighth ends helped Bibby to a 5-3 victory.
They defeated Team Ward from the Nutana Curling Club in the semifinal 8-2 with a two spot in the second end and three in the fifth provided the difference to book their spot in the final.
“We were pleased to rise to the occasion on Sunday.” Bibby explained. “Then in the final, we faced a team that I’m going to call our friends, Team Frolek from North Battleford. This event has been running for 16 years, and I’ve played in 13 of those 16 years. I’ve seen Team Frolek and our friends on team Frolek over and over again. The win was wonderful, but it was a bit bittersweet too.”
Bibby explained the club curling championships are built on a sense of camaraderie and provide an opportunity for curlers to compete while not being at the upper echelon of skill.
“This event is very much built for curlers who have that strong sense of pride in their province who want to wear the green jacket, who want to represent the province of Saskatchewan on the national stage, but we know that we’re not those top shelf tier one curlers. The sport of curling has changed. It really took a turn when curling became an Olympic sport, and it went from the divide between recreational and ultra competitive becoming a huge gap. The club curling championships provides a venue for those of us that still want to compete, we still want to win, but we know that we also have all the other duties of life. For some of us it’s work or family, or for some of us maybe our age is going against us, and we know that we’re not that tier one level, either never were or aren’t going to be anymore.”
Bibby indicated that a date is yet to be announced for nationals, but the team expects it to be sometime in November.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
