Around the Rinks: 6-8 March
The Rink Championship, Forfar Indoor Sports, Friday 6 – Sunday 8 March
Forfar Indoor Sports hosted this year’s Rink Championships, where teams who’ve qualified from their local rink compete for the spectacular trophy.
Murrayfield 1, Braehead, Aberdeen 1, Galleon, Perth 3, Murrayfield 2, Perth 1 and Stirling 1 all qualified from their groups to earn a place in the Quarter Finals on Sunday morning.
Braehead’s steal of 4 in the fifth end proved too much for Murrayfield 1 to overcome, allowing Braehead to move forward to the Semi Final. Galleon posted a convincing win against Aberdeen 1, as did Perth 3 over Murrayfield 2. Perth 1 started strong and were 4-0 up on Stirling 1 after two ends in their Quarter Final. Stirling 1 brought it back to 4-2 at the halfway mark, but the game had no further score, and Perth 1 progressed.
The two Perth sides came up against each other in the Semi Final, where it took an extra end for Perth 1 to book their spot in the Final. Galleon took on Braehead in the other Semi Final and were 5-3 winners in a game where neither team scored a deuce.
Galleon and Perth 1 exchanged twos in the first couple of ends, and after that Galleon built up a lead by picking up scores of 3 in ends four and six. Perth 1 couldn’t match their multiple scores, which allowed Stewarton Heather Curling Club to take the trophy for Galleon with a final score of 9-5.
Scottish Curling Schools Championship, Ayr Ice Rink, Friday 6 – Sunday 8 March
Ayr were hosts to 23 teams and a raft of supporters this weekend for the Scottish Curling Schools Championship. The teams, representing 18 schools from across the country, enjoyed the new six end format of the event. At the conclusion of the highly competitive round robin, the south of the country were dominant in claiming the eight Quarter Final places.
Stewarton Academy were the most northerly qualifiers, and they posted a convincing win over Dumfries Academy in their Quarter Final. Members of this year’s Scottish Junior Championship silver medal winning Team Gallacher went head to head in the Sanquhar Academy against St Joseph’s College 1 match up – with St Joseph’s taking the win in a low scoring game. Dalbeattie High School had similarly low scoring game against Lockerbie Academy 2, with Dalbeattie making their way to the Semi Finals. The last Quarter Final was an all-Stranraer affair, with Stranraer Academy 2 taking the win over Stranraer Academy 2.
Stewarton Academy took on Stranraer Academy 2 in the first Semi Final, where the game started with a conservative blank end. The scoring ramped up as the game went on however, and the teams were tied going into the last end. Stranraer made use of the hammer to score 1 in the last end, and they progressed to the final.
Dalbeattie High School and St Joseph’s College 1 were all square after 2 ends, but Dalbeattie piled on the pressure and booked their place in the final.
Stranraer Academy started strong in the final, stealing 1 in the first end. Dalbeattie were quick to respond with a score of 4 in the second end, which the Stranraer side were unable to recover from. The Dalbeattie High School team of Orrin Carson, Struan Carson, Hannah Farries, Logan Carson and Kirstey Farries take the trophy back to their school for the first time!
Winners – Dalbeattie High School
Orrin Carson (Fourth & Skip), Struan Carson (Third & Vice-skip), Hannah Farries (Second), Logan Carson (Lead), Kirsty Farries (Alternate)
Runners-up – Stranraer Academy 2
Findlay Hare (Fourth & Vice-skip), Rory Dodds (Third & skip), Kerr Jamieson (Second), Kerr Lyon (Lead)
Pathway Competition, Curl Aberdeen, Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 March
By Scottish Curling Pathway Manager, David Ramsay.
The second leg of the inaugural Pathway Competition proved to be really valuable in Curl Aberdeen. Supported so generously by British Curling (by covering all ice charges) and British Curling Supplies (providing prize vouchers), the teams enjoyed mixed curling and mixed doubles over the weekend.
The clash of dates with the Rink Championship and the Scottish Schools proved a challenge but the opportunity that arose for young male players to be on the ice with more experienced women added value, and they all enjoyed learning together. Fiona and Katherine Spain added an anglo flavour and it was great to have them involved.
The two break-out workshops were a huge success. The first, hosted by former GB Olympian and freestyle swimmer David Carry challenged the players on clarity of decision making, and consider what helps or hinders progress in the Performance Pathway. Then on the Sunday PF leading Skip Cammy Bryce led on tactics, tactical efficiencies and scenarios, with video and slide board discussions following, highlighting many of the recent games from The Brier.
On the competition side, playing for the “Rambo Cup” Teams Wilson and MacDonald/Duff topped the weekends points scoring on 21 with the young men’s Team Holder- Chris, Kyle, Callum and David finishing on a very creditable 19 in third place.
The “Rambo Cup” is decided on the aggregate scores over the two weekends therefore, is won by Team MacDonald/Duff, whose 18 points in Edinburgh when combined with the 21 from Aberdeen sees them top the table with 39 overall, second equal Teams were Maggie Wilson and Fay Henderson with 35.
Huge thanks to our two sponsors in 
and 
and a massive thanks to Curl Aberdeen for such attention to ice quality and excellent catering, and to Murrayfield Curling who produced equally fantastic ice and food for the first leg held back in December. Without all of them taking a punt on the new venture, it could never have happened.
Scott Dakers and Paul Davis provided invaluable support to me over both legs and ensured the whole thing ran without a hitch. I very much hope the format can continue and perhaps be expanded to include more Scottish ice rinks in future years, but the busy calendar remains a huge challenge.
Lastly a huge thanks to the players for supporting me, and the event, in both venues. It was great to see the curlers enjoy themselves and take the sport seriously – just need to keep that balance.
Rambo
Level 2+, Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Saturday 7 March
On Saturday 7 March coaches from several sports got together for day 2 of the Level 2+. The day was all about Creative Coaching: understanding what it means to be a creative coach; how to welcome all opportunities to trying new ides within coaching; how to create a stimulating environment for athletes; building a stimulation environment into coaching sessions. The day was full of fun and challenged coaches to step away from standard approaches to coaching and look into bringing more creativity to sessions. The last generic training day will be in August. These sessions will be followed up by sports specific workshops, which will be supported by British Curling.
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