The field has been set for the British Columbia Winter Games and the competition includes a couple of Tri-City rinks.
Team Drexel is among the finalists for the provincial event, joining 15 other juvenile curling clubs from across B.C. for a tournament in Penticton later this month.
The local rink is led by 16-year-old Coquitlam skip Heather Drexel, third Everly Royea, second Bailey Burke and lead Madeline Britz. The team is coached by Alan Smith.
This will be Drexel’s third provincial event, while Everly and Bailey have been to the competition twice before, with Everly’s team winning in 2014, while Bailey and Drexel won the juvenile championships in Cowichan, British Columbia, the same year.
All three of the players went on to the under-18 internationals.
The Coquitlam curlers will be up against some tough competition at this month’s tournament.
Other B.C. Winter Games finalists include Team McCrady, another Tri-City skip, who recently won the silver at the 2016 B.C. Junior Men’s Curling Championships in Kamloops last month.
Port Coquitlam’s McCrady and his rink, which includes third Zac Curtis of Coquitlam, second Liam Purgavie of Surrey and lead Jacob Umbach, also of Coquitlam, had a strong showing in the finals against Team Tardi of Langley. However, the team came up short, falling 8-3 in the finals.
Team Loken, the bronze medalist rink from the B.C. Junior Women’s Curling Championship, will also be competing at the tournament.
The B.C. Winter Games will take place between Feb. 25 and 28 at the Penticton Curling Club. Winners at the tournament will go on to compete at the under-18 International Curling Championships in March, which will be held in Edmonton.
For up-to-date stats and standings, go to www.playdowns.com. For more information about the Winter Games, go to www.bcgames.org.
@TriCityNews
