The Dominion Curling Club northern playdowns for St. Albert rinks skipped by Lauren Jenkyns and Craig King sweep into action Friday at the Ottewell.
Jenkyns, third Kathy Piper, second Laurie Schreiner and lead Cindy Bobowik play Trina Ball of the Avonair at 12 p.m. in the women’s 20-rink draw.
Jenkyns, the defending Alberta champion, finished 3-3 in pool play at the fifth annual Dominion Curling Club Canadian Championships last year with Piper, Schreiner and Diana Backer in the line-up.
King, third Ralph Killips, second Elson Keown and lead Gary Hoekstra hit the ice at 9 a.m. against Dick Homenick of Strathcona in the men’s 26-rink draw.
The winning men’s and women’s rinks advance to the Dominion provincials in October at Edmonton Garrison.
Jenkyns and King qualified for northerns as last year’s President’s Cup playoff champions at the St. Albert Curling Club.
The St. Albert Storm midget spring league team huddles up Saturday against the Lloydminster Red Dogs in the Capital District Minor Football Association.
The exhibition game kicks off at 3 p.m. at Fuhr Sports Park in Spruce Grove.
The Storm are competing in the three-team Tier 2 division and the Ice Dogs are in the five-team Tier 1 division.
The Storm’s first Tier 2 game is April 5 against the West Edmonton Raiders at 3 p.m. in Spruce Grove.
The Storm’s seven-game schedule ends with the May 2-3 division finals.
The first rock at the 10th annual Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship will be delivered Monday at 8 a.m. at the St. Albert Curling Club.
The opening ceremonies are scheduled for 10 a.m.
The 48-team competition features 21 entries from Alberta, including six St. Albert and three Morinville teams.
Manitoba is represented by 11 teams and British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also have curlers entered.
There are also three all-female teams and a number of male/female duos at nationals.
Every team is guaranteed five games. Eight teams qualify for the championship bracket. The playoff round includes a consolation bracket.
Wednesday’s finals start around 5 p.m.
Games are six ends and the average playing time is one hour.
At the Tuesday night banquet the guest speaker is 2010 Olympic gold medallist Marc Kennedy. The two-time Brier winner and 2008 world champion with the Kevin Martin rink is also a St. Albert Curling Club wall of fame member.
