2023 BC U18 Championships bring late-December thrills to community of Richmond

On the heels of successfully hosting the 2023 BC Wheelchair Championships, Richmond Curling Centre is at it again hosting the 2023 BC U18 Girls and Boys Championships which began today at 2:00PM PST.

The event features a number of former champions and medalists at the BC Winter Games, Canada Winter Games, U18 and U21 Championship levels.

Teams will be hosted to a banquet by the Richmond Curling Centre this evening. Draws 2-4 will continue tomorrow at 9:00AM, 2:00PM and 7:00PM PST.

Curling Fans are encouraged to visit the Richmond Curing Centre to catch all the excitement from December 28th-31st. if you are not in the area, you can catch all of the games on the Curl BC YouTube Channel.

The U18 championship will see seven women’s teams and five men’s teams will take to the ice in a triple knockout format that will see 3 teams advancing to the playoffs for both genders.

Team Adam Fenton were last year’s men’s champions, they were made up of Adam Fenton (skip), Alex Duncan-Wu (third), Wesley Wu (lead), and were coached by coaches Fuji Miki and Brad Fenton. The 2022 women’s champions were Team Gracelyn Richards, featuring Gracelyn Richards (skip), Keelie Duncan (third), Grace McCusker (second), Carley Hardie (lead), and coach Adam Duncan

This year, the seven women’s teams competing are:

Team Dezura

Ashley Dezura, skip

Savannah Miley, third

Hannah Smeed, second

Brooklyn Aleksic, lead

Team Duncan

Keelie Duncan, skip

Meredith McCullum, third

Carley Hardie, second

Ashley Fenton, lead

Team Hafeli

Holly Hafeli, skip

Jorja Kopytko, third

Eryn Czirfusz, second

Natalie Hafeli, lead

Team Manning

Erin Manning, skip

Rachel Lane, third

Miranda Allen, second

Kaitlyn Rouw, lead

Team Norrington

Sidney Norrington, skip

Ara Yoo, third

Ella Wang, second

Carmen Chong, lead

Team Arndt

Ava Arndt, skip

Bethany Evans, third

Ivy Jensen, lead

Team Wong

Bryelle Wong, skip

Morgan Bowles, third

Alexis Nguyen, second

Erin Fitzgibbon, lead

And the five men’s teams are:

Team Blaeser

Nolan Blaeser, skip

Kaiden Beck, third

Nolan Beck, second

Koen Hampshire, lead

Team McKenzie

Taj McKenzie, skip

Isaac Lauzon, third

James McCreedy, second

Felix Lau, lead

Team Patterson

Casey Patterson, lead

Blake Willich, third

Quinn Farmer, second

Ryan Farmer, lead

Team Shelin

Liam Shelin, skip

Presley Crerar, third

Riley Cote, second

Xen Bowler, lead

Team Tam

Adrian Tam, skip

Austin Tomlinson, third

Ethan Chiu, second

Harrison Hrynew, lead

Curl BC would like to recognize this championship conclude with was funded in part by, a grant from viaSport BC and the Province of British Columbia.

The Semi and Finals for the Boys event will be on December 30th at 2:00PM and 7:00PM, followed by the women’s Semi and Final taking place on New Year’s Eve. The Gold medal winners along with the finalists of both genders will advance to the Curling Canada U18 National Championship, which takes place February 5^th to 11th, 2023, in Schumacher, ON.