There are three parts to this final curling story of the 2016-2017 season.

The first deals with a curling team from Ecole Edward Schreyer School in Beausejour who brought home a championship banner from Dauphin.

Kathryn Cullen, Brianna Cullen, Sammi Kaluzny, Julia Millan and their fifth Amanda Kintop represented Zone 13 at the Provincial High School Curling Championship back in late February.

The Edward Schreyer foursome defeated Presley Walker of College Jeanne-Sauve 8-4 in the “A-B” final.

"All of us were over the moon," said Cullen. "We were so proud when we walked into school and our school was proud too. It was an amazing experience and we were so happy that we got to participate and have fun and curl as amazing as we did."

Cullen, Cullen, Kaluzny and Millan won their first two games and then lost 6-5 to Katy Lukowich of Miles Macdonnell in the “A” side semifinals.

Cullen and company then reeled off three straight wins including an 8-4 decision over Talyia Tober of Ashern in the “B” side final.

That set up a winner take all “A-B” final with Walker for the provincial championship banner.

"We went in there with determination and we knew we had the skills," Cullen said. "We just all needed to put them together at the right time. We were definitely able to do that Saturday despite being so tired from playing four games and we were able to do it the rest of the weekend as well. That was a big part of it."

"We were so excited," answered Cullen when asked how it felt when the last rock came to rest. "We had this group huddle and Ms. Bouchard, our coach, was so proud of us and so was all my family that came and watched and Julia's mom and Amanda's mom as well."

Kathryn Cullen won a championship banner in her grade 12 year and said it was so special to curl with her sister Brianna who still has two years of high school curling remaining.

"I am so happy that's she's my third and just to be able to experience that with her it's really nice. I don't know how to describe it. I'm very happy."


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CurlManitoba announced this past weekend the site of the 2019 Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

One of our province's two most prestigious curling championships will be held in Gimli. The event will be played January 23-27, 2019 in the Gimli Recreation Centre, the same arena which started Jennifer Jones and her St. Vital team on the road to their only World Championship in 2008.

"We are delighted to be going back to Gimli. The Gimli Curling Club has successfully hosted many others of our championship events in addition to the 2008 Scotties," CurlManitoba executive director Craig Baker said. "We know the curling fans in the Interlake region are eager to have championship curling return to Gimli and we are confident this event will be another great success."

"Gimli is excited to showcase local talent such as Team Einarson. Gimli host committee will be excited to be watching a mostly new group of Manitoba women curlers," says 2019 Scotties co-chair Dave Leblanc.

"It is exciting to think about the many great young teams we have seen emerge in Manitoba in the last couple of years and to think about one of those young teams possibly using Gimli as their starting point for their own run to a national and world championship," says co-chair Lynn Hoplock.

The first team to qualify for the 2019 Scotties in Gimli will be identified a year earlier when the 2018 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts is played in Killarney. The 2018 Manitoba champion will return to defend their title in the 2019 event in the Gimli Recreation Centre.

                                                                 
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Matt Pilloud 's one-year term as CurlManitoba president will end September 23rd at the Association's Annual General Meeting.

"I think the season went very well," said Pilloud. "We had a lot success in our development programs this year. The Hit, Draw & Tap program had over 600 kids involved across the province and culminated in the final at the 2017 Viterra Championship which went really well. We had a floor curling tournament in south Winnipeg this year that involved over 200 grade 3 students and exposed them to the sport. The Curling 101 program that Curling Canada runs, was run in a couple of clubs in Manitoba this year. East St. Paul had great success there. They had almost 200 people that they introduced to the sport in their club. We also had the Business of Curling Symposium where we had 32 clubs attend and again it was a tremendous success. I think it was great from a development stand point."

The Hit, Draw & Tap program involved curlers as young as six all the way up to 13 years of age.

"It was a great idea to have the final at the Viterra Championship," said Pilloud. "We got great buy-in from the elite curlers in giving prizes. I was there and I was able to see it. The excitement on the kids faces to play on the ice and to be part of that world – it's going to lead to people being in the sport a long time."

John B. Mather of the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg was the first president of the Manitoba Curling Association in the 1888-89.

Matt Pilloud was elected the association's 129th president the day he turned 31-years-old.

"It's humbling and it's crazy to think about that history. It's a very old organization with a lot of tradition and to have been selected by my peers and fellow curlers to take that position is just a tremendous honour. I don't know how else to describe it."

 

2016 & 2017 Scotties champions Kerri Einarson and Michelle Englot