Closing Weekend

The Winning Teams

It was an excellent very busy closing weekend at the ice rink culminating with the RCCC Area 9 Top Ten Team Challenge (Sponsored By Ferguson Oliver) on Sunday 28th March.

12 teams arrived at the ice rink from Aberdeen, Kincardineshire, Angus and Dundee just in time for a warm welcome and a bacon roll. The competition proved a truly enjoyable yet competitive day of curling with results going right down to the wire as they always do in this particular event.

The format of the Top Ten Challenge is quite unique with rinks, triples & pairs played at all of the first three sessions and then four players nominated by their club to compete in the final hotshots session helps build the tension. Clubs are going up and down the leader board after every session.
With Edzell CC leading the pack into the final hotshots stage of the competition teams moved up and down the leader board as results came in. At the end of the day Fothringham CC emerged winners with Dundee CC a valiant second and Letham Grange third. Well done to all the teams for making the day such a success and it was agreed that the timing of the event as a close of season competition worked well.

L to R: Ian Stewart (FIBC), Mike Ferguson, Neil Duncan (BBC)

Through in the bowling rink on Saturday Brechin Bowling Club arrived as guests to compete against Forfar Indoor Bowling Club. With outdoor versus indoor the challenge was on. As you would expect the indoor club won quite handsomely on their home turf but a great sociable day was had by all.

The new Stan Ferguson Memorial Trophy was presented to Ian Stewart FIBC President with Neil Duncan BBC President adding a few kinds words. Here is hoping the competition can become a regular on the calender.

Attentions now turn to preparing for next season and attending to the property and other domestic issues.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members for their support in this first season under new management I have learned a great deal and look forward to building on this experience for mext season. Haste Ye Back.

Trycurling

A successful Try Curling event took place on Saturday 6 March 2010 at Forfar Indoor Sports with 26 beginners taking part. The event, backed by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, gave those taking part some idea of what the game was about. Most of the participants had seen the games broadcast during the Winter Olympics and wanted to try the game to see what it was like. Local coaches took them through the basics of the game and within an hour they were able to take part in a short game, which they all enjoyed. The climax to the event was a "Hotshot Challenge" with the winner, Matthew Chapman, receiving an invitation to a coaching session with the British Olympians at the end of the season. Well done Matthew. There will be a chance for anyone else interested in taking up the game to try it out at the beginning of the new curling season, being the beginning of October. Watch the press for details.

trycurling.com

Forfar Curling Centre are hosting a trycurling.com session at the ice rink on Saturday 6th March 2010 at 12:45. All are welcome the more the merrier.

With qualified coaches on hand this is an ideal opportunity to come along and try the great sport of curling as played in th recent Winter Olympics.

Backed by the RCCC the trycurling.com programme has been a tremendous success with thousands of curlers turning up at ice rinks throughout the country to try curling for the first time. So come along and try it for yourself.

Weekend Round-Up

Another busy weekend at Forfar Indoor Sports.

We were delighted to host Brechin Castle Curling Club's 150th Anniversary Bonspiel and as the pictures show everyone had an excellent time. Congratulations go to Brechin Castle for putting together an excellent day of true curling fellowship.

Evenie Water emerged victorious but on a day when results were secondary to fun and fellowship I am sure they would agree the real winner was curling itself.

Thanks also go to Lynda and her team of helpers for looking after everyone so well with food, drink and more drink.

Numbers through in the Ice Skating hall have been increasing over past weekends with this week no exception. Recent advertising has obviously worked and it is great to see the ice so busy with everyone enjoying themselves. Again many thanks to all the stewards and volunteers without whose hard work none of this would be possible.

Likewise the bowling hall was steady with local competitions and the addition of the new LCD screen in the lounge allowed everyone the added luxury of watching the Rugby, well with the exception of the last 10 painful minutes at least.

We will be showing the Winter Olympics and in particular the curling whenever we can so come along and join in the fun and watch the games.

Forfar Young Curlers: Saturday 6th February 2010

The ice rink was once again full of activity as Forfar Young Curlers take to the ice for their weekly coaching session. What an excellent sight it is to see more than 40 young curlers on the ice with ages range from 8 to 18.

Praise must go to the dedicated team of coaches without whose time and effort these morning sessions couldn't happen. Well done to everyone and it bodes well for the future of curling to see such talented youngsters so obviously enjoying themselves both on and off the ice.

Scottish Seniors Qualifiers

Congratulations go to all our Forfar Scottish Seniors Curling teams who were playing in the District Qualifiers over the weekend.

All four rinks have qualified for the finals, well done to the rinks skipped by George Christie, Don Stark, Ian Young & Andy McGlynn and best of luck in the finals.

There were twenty-seven over-50s men's teams entered, looking first of all for a place in the Scottish Senior Finals at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton, February 8-10. From there the new Senior Champions will take part in the World Senior Championships in Chelyabinsk, Russia, April 16-24.

Seniors Day

Another very busy day at Forfar Indoor Sports with the Ice Rink hosting the RCCC Scottish Seniors District Qualifiers and through in the bowling rink all six rinks were busy playing the weekly popular seniors league.

The two three rinks from Forfar skipped by Andy McGlynn, Ian Young and Don Stark competing in the Senior Qualifiers are all doing well and head into Saturday and Sunday's games full of confidence. Also doing well down at the Greenacres qualifiers are George Christie's rink.

Here is a selection of pictures from the day which hopefully tell there own story with a few worthies in the rouges gallery: -

and to the bowling rink.........

Forfar Young Curlers under 17’s & 12’s Cup Competition

I am indebted to Ian Taylor for the following report: -

Forfar Indoor Sports was the venue for the first ever Forfar Young Curlers under 17’s and under 12’s Cup. Young curlers from as far south as Kelso and Greenacres and Aberdeen in the north braved the wintery weather and blocked roads to compete in two new events. Both events were sponsored by Mackie’s of Scotland, who not only provided prizes, there was also lots of free ice cream and crisps available during both days. Local company Tannadice Trophies sponsored complimentary badges to the travelling teams and provided engraving services.



10 under 17 teams were drawn in 2 sections and played a round robin league. The winners of each section progressing to the High Road Final and the runners-up the Low Road Final. A high standard of curling was on show throughout the competition with a mixture of experienced junior curlers and curlers taking part in their first competition, all enjoying the holiday atmosphere of this new event. The High Road final was an all Forfar affair between rinks skipped by Andrew Callander and Robert Fawns. The scores were close throughout with Robert having the upper hand in the early ends however Andrew won a 3 at the 7th to go into the last end one up but without the hammer. Most top curlers say they would rather go to the last end one down with the hammer than one up without, but this theory didn’t work for Robert. Andrew got two stones side by side near the front 8 foot circle and Robert opted for a difficult double takeout and hopefully an extra end. He played a firm strike weight and managed to remove the two red stones but his own stone went through a gap reportedly less than a stones width and out the back of the house to leave the end blank. A draw to the 4 foot might have been the better option, but that’s easy to say with hindsight. Very well done and congratulations go to Andrew and his team, Alistair Stewart, Hayley Smith and Thomas Halder also Ewan Mitchell who played during first day. The Low Road was contested between George McConnell’s rink from Greenacres and Frazer Thomson’s rink from Kinross skipped by Cameron Smith. The Kinross rink of Cameron Smith, Frazer Thomson, David Laird and Grant Barr winning by 7 shots to 3.


6 Teams from Perth, Dundee and Forfar including two new curlers from Kirkcaldy enthusiastically competed for the under 12’s Cup. They played 3 rounds in a Schenkel Bonspiel followed by 1-2 and 3-4 playoffs. The competition was fierce with the youngsters all keen to show off their talents in front of a large gallery of parents, grandparents and friends. The final was between Mili Smith’s rink from Perth and Euan MacDiarmid’s home rink. Mili was playing a controlled game and was favourite going into the last end 3–1 up, but Euan coolly drew his last stone to the edge of the 4 foot circle to win a 3 and the Cup. Well done to all the competitors who played and entertained the audience throughout.


I must share a comment made by an under 12 girls team who unfortunately were without a win. “We really enjoyed playing and we’re going to stick together because next year we will be bigger and better and could even win!” If only our adult teams had the mental strength of these young curlers.

It was great to see the ice rink full of talented youth and I congratulate Forfar Young Curlers for holding such a successful event.

Graham Arnot Trophy 2009

Here is a more detailed report on the Graham Arnot Competition prepapred by Ian Young:

This years Graham Arnot was played over two days, 28 and 29 December 2009 again sponsored by Strathmore Foods who provided the prizes.


12 teams took part with three games being played in the first day. 6 sheets were used with all sections playing at the same time. All teams coped well with having to play three games and some excellent curling took place.

8 teams qualified for the semi finals. Gordon Craik, Ian Young and Andy McGlynn qualified for the High Road as winners of the three sections with Adrian White taking the fourth spot as best second place in Section 3.

Bill Thomson, David Russell, Stuart Stark and Don Stark qualified for the Low Road with the latter making it into the semis by one end.

All semi finals were keenly contested with Adrian White and Andy McGlynn going through to the High Road final. Andy found himself 3 down going into the last two ends but managed to take a three in the 7th end and a single at the 8th to win through.

Bill Thomson and Stuart Stark won through to the Low Road final with Stuart managing to succeed over his father.

Two marvellous finals then took place with both games going to the last end.

In the high road Andy and Adrian exchanged a two and a three in the first two ends with Adrian having the upper hand. Three ends were then blanked with Andy taking a two in the 6th end to lead by one. Adrian took a three in the 7th to take a two shot lead into the last end. Despite Andy’s best efforts he was only able to take a one in the last to leave Adrian victorious.

The Low Road final was a very close affair with the teams exchanging shots at each end. They went into the last end all square and it was anyone’s game but Stuart Stark having the advantage of last stone. This proved crucial as he managed to take the last end by one shot.

The presentation of prizes took place immediately after the finals with Ian Clarke. Sales Director of Strathmore Foods, presenting the trophy and prizes.

Thanks go to all the teams who took part and we look forward to your entry for next years competition. Thanks also go to Steve and his team for the preparation of the ice and Linda and her team for provision of food and drink over the two days.

Festive Curling Activity

There is a great deal of activity going on at the ice rink right now.

It was very encouraging to see a healthy turn out for the Graham Arnot trophy over Monday & Tuesday. Healthy competition was had by all with Adrian White's rink of Adrian, Jill McDonald, Craig Johnston and Adrian's sister the eventual winners beating Andy McGlynn's rink in high road final.

Stewart Stark's rink beat Bill Thomson's rink in the low road final. The losing semi finalists were Gordon Craik & Ian Young in the High Road and Don Stark & David Russell in the low rink.

Great competition played in an excellent spirit. Many thanks go to the sponsors McIntosh Scottish Foods and well done to the Curling Centre for organising the event.

As I write this the Forfar Young Curlers are hosting an under-17's competition which reaches it's climax today (Wednesday). It is great to see the rink full of so many young talented curlers with many having travelled quite a distance to get to Forfar through some dreadful weather. Good luck to all