RDC curling teams looking to clinch titles
Canadian’s eyes will be on Red Deer in less that three weeks and they will all be thinking of one thing, curling -- specifically women’s curling as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
With that in mind, the Red Deer College Curling team is making its move to get Red Deer in the mood for the winter sport. The top four teams go to provincials in Alberta and both the men and women’s rinks at RDC are headed to Camrose.
Brad Hamilton coaches both the men and women’s curling teams at RDC. Last weekend they were playing at the Winter Regionals.
“My women’s team was kind of on the bubble,” he said. “They were tied for third with a bunch of teams. And they played great.”
The women went 5 and 2 in their last seven games and ended up tied for first with an overall record of 9-5.
“The men's team went in tied for second and went undefeated in the tournament until the very last game but lost on the last end.”
The mixed team didn’t make provincials. “It was a pretty good weekend. It would have been nice to have all three teams going but two out of three is pretty good.”
The provincials will be tough on the men’s side. NAIT, Grant MacEwen, Augustana and RDC are headed to the tournament. “The men’s side is very competitive. Any one of them can win gold and any one of them could end up fourth.”
For the women’s side it was all about actually getting to provincials. Redemption time.
“They lost in a tie breaker last year to get to provincials,” said Hamilton. “So there was a lot of motivation there this year. They worked very hard. They probably practiced the most of all our teams.”
Last year the men’s curling team won gold in the ACAC provincials and they have a good chance to repeat.
For the women, the provincial side will see Grande Prairie, NAIT, Lakeland and RDC. The RDC's women’s team is not happy to just be there, they’re looking to take the title. Hamilton thinks his team can do it. “I think we have one of the better women’s teams. If they go there and play like they can. They should definitely be competing for the gold.”
The provincials take place on Feb. 24th - 25th at the University of Alberta Augustana in Camrose.
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