By Andy Watson
Teams from across the country competed for cash and Olympic dreams while meeting with new fans at the annual Welton Beauchamp curling championships Nov. 10-13.
The tournament was held at five different venues in the city, including the Ottawa and Rideau curling clubs in Centretown.
The championship offers $160,000 in cash prizes and is a qualifying event for the Olympic trials in Regina, Sask., in December 2001.
Tournament chairperson Danny Lamoureux says the high stakes of the event are the key to attracting the country’s top curlers.
“It was definitely an incredibly successful event,” he says. “This is the best field of curlers the tournament has ever seen.”
Teams from as far east as St. John’s, Nfld., and as far west as Victoria, helped to attract what Lamoureux calls “the best record of gate receipts ever.”
“Because the best talent was here, many new fans came in to see the event,” he says.
“Our celebrities (top curlers) aren’t untouchable. You can approach them after the game and have a drink with them, and that’s a good opportunity for the first-time fan who gets to meet the best of the curling world.”
Lee Mantha, a 15-year curling veteran from Centretown, agrees that being able to chat with the elite of the game is a great part about curling.
“This is one of the few sports where you can hang out with national, international or provincial champions,” he says.
“Ottawa is one of the bastions of the curling world, so we were able to attract top-quality teams here. It’s great to talk with these players.”
Lamoureux says many new curling fans attended the four-day championships.
“We had such a positive experience with new fans,” he says.
He says he received many phone calls for updates on results and the Web site, www.theweltonbeauchamp.
com, received over 100,000 visitors.
Centretown resident Paul Hodgson was one of the new fans that came to see the Welton Beauchamp championships at the Rideau rink.
“It was surprisingly exciting,” the 28-year-old says. “Who would’ve thought rocks being swept down ice could excite this many people?”
Wayne Middaugh of Victoria Harbour, Ont., and his team of four won the $15,000 prize for being the top men’s team, beating out 63 other teams.
Dave Van Dine’s local team, which curls at several Ottawa rinks, won in the senior category, while Sherry Fraser of Richmond, B.C., won in the women’s category.
Lamoureux says the tournament was also successful in attracting business to Ottawa with curlers from 136 different teams spending money on hotels rooms, meals, car rentals and shopping.
“It’s an added bonus to the success of the high turnout of spectators,” he says.
Ottawa’s next major curling event takes place in March when the Nokia Brier men’s national curling championships comes to the Ottawa Civic Centre.