BIG COUNTRY SENIOR SPORTS SOCIETY – ALBERTA 55 PLUS
The Alberta 55 Plus Provincial Ice Curling championships were held in Cochrane February 22-25. Forty teams from all over Alberta came to Cochrane to compete in age groups from 55+ all the way to 75+. (We had 2 curlers aged 85).
Foothills County is part of Zone 2 and had four teams competing; from the Oilfields Curling Club in Diamond Valley, the Men’s 55+ team from High River of Dean Schielke, Kevin Muir, Lloyd Copithorne (Cochrane), and Tim Paziuk captured the Bronze medal. In Open 75+, a Silver medal went to Louis Peterson, Okotoks, Rose Dayment, Longview, Jim Nicolson, Diamond Valley and Barb Larson, Foothills. Also competing from the Oilfields Club in the 65+ Women’s category was the team of Cathie Dallas, Tammy Conacher, Linda Nelson and Cheryl Fredell. Our final Foothills entry, in 55+ Women, skipped by Okotoks’ Glenys Bakker, with Adele Williamson & Lynn Hartsburg from Springbank, and Heather Craig from Cochrane.
Rocky View County, fielded 6 teams, players from Bearspaw-Cochrane- Springbank-Elbow Valley-Bragg Creek.
Cochrane’s Gary Hawkes (with Phil Smith & Jim Anderson from Cochrane, Bob Jennings from Bearspaw) won Gold in Mens 65+. Silver medals were earned by Team Mike Buxton, Cochrane in Mens 55+, and Team Doug Campbell, Mens 70+. Bronzes were earned in Womens 55+ by Springbank’s Bev Buckley team, in Mixed 55+ by Cochrane’s Dan Ferguson team, and in 65+ Mixed by Cochrane’s Team Shaun McGrath. Team Marnie Shipley, Cochrane, finished 5th in 55+W. Canmore’s, Team Richard Davis, won Silver in 65+ Mixed.
Winning teams in each category qualify to go to the Canada 55 Plus Games in Quebec City in August, 2024.
The final Provincial Championship being hosted by Big Country Senior Sports Society (Administrator, Zone 2), is Badminton. AB 55 plus Provincials will be held in Okotoks on March 28th at the Edison Badminton Centre.
