The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Curling Club hosts the men’s provincials this week, almost four years to the day the same venue hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Draws begin today Feb. 5 at the 2014 Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship, and culminate on the weekend with finals Feb. 8 and 9.
The 16 teams to take to the ice in the Olympic legacy facility at Hillcrest Centre hail from across the province and include defending champions Team Bilesky from New Westminster’s Royal City Curling Club.
Bilesky’s third, Steve Kopf, said he looked forward to competing where the Olympics were held four years ago.
“It is such a new building and so much more advanced… that it is going to be exciting to be there,” he said.
Kopf added it’s great to have the championship in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»where family and friends of the Bilesky rink, which also includes skip Andrew Bilesky, second Derek Errington, lead Aaron Watson and fifth Ken Watson, can show up to cheer the team on. Â
One of the most anticipated possible matchups of the championship is Team Bilesky versus Vernon’s Team Morris, the silver medalists at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings held in December.
But Kopf was not fazed by the prospect.
“We’re going in there with our game plan if it is Morris or any other team… we have played them before so it is just like any other match really,” he said.
It will be a coming home of sorts for John Morris, skip of Team Morris, as he returns to where he and his team took home gold at the 2010 Games.  
“Needless to say there is a lot to get excited about,” said Willa Thorpe, the event chair and executive director.  
Thorpe said curling has increased in popularity in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»since the city hosted the Games.
She credits the upcoming Sochi Olympics for a recent uptick in the VCC’s memberships as people recall the events of 2010. Â
And the new curlers aren’t the curlers many grew up knowing, she said. The perception of the curler as a grandparent is no longer accurate.
“Our membership is a reflection of Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»and its diversity,” she said. “We literally have every walk of life and age bracket.”
According to Thorpe, having sports broadcaster Sportsnet cover the championship semi-finals and finals will likely generate more wannabe curlers signing up at Lower Mainland rinks.
For those who know nothing about the sport, Thorpe suggests the men’s provincial championship is a welcome place to learn because new spectators can easily find veteran curlers and longtime fans who will explain the game and strategy.
“Curling is the one sport I know of, that everyone is, for argument sake, best friends right out of the gate,” she said.
There will also be a “Rise with Russia” event Friday morning, where early risers can watch the opening ceremony of the Sochi Games on a big-screen TV and take in curling on the ice at the same time.
For full event details go to:Â
