Sydenham Curling Club President Al Kerkhoff presented the Kent Cup to members of the Chatham and Blenheim curling clubs who tied for first place in the third annual event. Sixty-four curlers from the community’s four curling clubs took part in the competition.
Curling’s special blend of competitiveness and camaraderie were on full display recently as curlers from Chatham-Kent’s four clubs got together for the third annual Kent Cup.
Sixty-four participants from the Golden Acres club in Blenheim, the Chatham Granite Club, Ridgetown and Wallaceburg gathered at the Sydenham Curling Club in Wallaceburg to compete in four categories, men’s, women’s, mixed and senior mixed.
Co-chair Ric Mathany of Wallaceburg said the event has a dual purpose. “It’s a competitive event but it also provides curlers from all four of the clubs to get to know each other better,” he said.
The inaugural event was held in Blenheim in 2020. It was cancelled due to covid the following year but returned in 2022 when it was held in Chatham.
“The province literally shut down right after the first event,” said co-chair Deb Aarssen. “We knew we had a good thing going but we had to take a year off.”
Aarssen said the event helps curlers “put a face to a name. Curlers are a friendly group and it was good to see players greeting each other again after last year’s event,” she said. “The competitiveness is creeping in as some categories had playdowns just to qualify.”
Teams from Blenheim and Chatham finished in a tie in this year’s event.
