Melita to Host 2019 Canola Junior Curling Championships

The best young curlers in Manitoba will assemble in the south-western Manitoba community of Melita for Manitoba’s 2019 Canola Junior Curling Championships.

“We have finalized our discussions with CurlManitoba and with the Town of Melita and can now report that the 16-team Junior Men’s and 16-team Junior Women’s championships will be played in the Melita Curling Club and the Melita and Area Arena,” says host committee spokesperson Orville Renwick.

“We are pleased to be able to bring the Melita area its first arena championship event,” says CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker. “The Melita Curling club has successfully hosted a Mixed, a Masters and a U-18 championship in the recent past. We know the community will appreciate the opportunity to watch the best junior curlers in the province and will make the Canola Juniors a great success as well.”

The Canola Juniors will be the first major event hosted in the new Melita Communiplex, an ambitious undertaking which will unite the existing curling rink, hockey arena and outdoor swimming pool into a single community recreation facility.

“We expect the Communiplex entryway to be completed for the 2018-19 season,” says Melita Mayor Bill Holden. “It is an exciting prospect to be able to watch championship curling in our arena.”

Staging the championship in an arena is both a promotional initiative and a development initiative according to CurlManitoba’s Baker.

“We have a mandate to promote the sport across the province,” says Baker. “Our arena championships represent a special level of exposure to our sport and our top athletes. We look forward to this event having a positive impact on curling participation in the Melita Curling Club.”

For the curlers, it is excellent preparation for future competition.

“Whoever wins Manitoba has an advantage when they go on to play at the nationals because CurlManitoba creates the opportunity to play our provincial championship under arena ice conditions,” says two-time Manitoba Juniors Men’s champion and 2018 Canadian Bronze medalist skip J.T. Ryan.

The 2019 Canola Junior Championships will be played January 2 – 9 and the Melita event will mark the third time in recent years that the young curlers will play on ice prepared by world-class Ice Technician Greg Ewasko after this year’s championships in Altona and the 2016 championships in Rivers