No reason to let the fine curling gents from Sudbury have all of the fun.

It is extremely unlikely that rationale was at the very top of the list that drew 63 year-old local multi-club curler Margo Loney to finally take the plunge and experience an NOCA (Northern Ontario Curling Association) provincial championship playdown for the very first time.

Regardless, the upshoot was a Sudbury sweep of the 2026 Masters NOCA banners following play two weeks ago in New Liskeard, with no less than ten nickel city sexagenarians booking their tickets for the Canadian Masters bonspiel in Grande Prairie (Alberta) in April.

This trek is old hat to the NCUCC (Northern Credit Union Community Centre) quartet of Robbie Gordon, Doug Hong and Dion Dumontelle - though it is new territory for Scott Thom, who served as vice-skip for five days at the Horne Granite Curling Club.

On the other hand, the NCUCC ladies entry of Margo Loney, Maryann Zanchetta, Debbie Szymanski, Monique Schler and alternate Tracy Jacques had played all of three games together prior to provincials.

It was Szymanski, who curls regularly in league settings with both Loney and Zanchetta as members of the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club who was at the forefront of this initiative that opened the door for a woman who did not even pick up the sport until her late forties.

“I was a competitive swimmer when I was younger,” noted Loney, whose family boasts no lack of athleticism, the legacy of Terry Loney (sadly passed in 2022) and his spouse carried on through their children, Ali (dance) and Kyle (hockey).

“When I retired, my cousin invited me to try curling,” she continued. “I thought: this is hard water; I don’t know if I can do this - but I loved it.”

The family’s natural competitiveness had certainly not vanished as Margo took to clinics and such, quickly seeking to improve her game. She sought settings conducive to advancement. “I curled with the pensioners - mostly men - because I found it a little more challenging.”

That said, truth is that Loney has thrown third for many a winter, venturing over to skip in settings where she could impart some of her growing knowledge of the game, typically with curling neophytes who so often had followed a pathway similar to her own, late entries into this passion ripe with social benefits.

“I developed my ability to read the ice and call the line over the years,” suggested the woman whose team finished with a round robin record of 2-2 and trailed the Rejeanne MacLeod Sault Ste Marie based rink 4-1 in the finals with three ends to play.

“Now I was able to put those abilities to use.”

That she did, with a generous helping hand of support from her teammates as Team Loney scored one with the hammer in six before turning the game on its head with a steal of four in seven, holding MacLeod to one in the eighth for the win.

“We had no expectations going in in terms of even thinking we could win as a brand new team,” said Loney. “I think I was most pleased with how well our team came together. We really played as a team - and when we played as a team, our games were better.”

Those are words of wisdom that would have drawn complete endorsement from Team Gordon, the men who have crisscrossed the country multiple times over attending national tournaments at both the senior and masters level. The route that got them to the end goal, this time around, was fraught with obstacles as no less than eight men’s teams attended the battle in the Tri-Towns.

With a 6-1 record through the preliminary round, the Robbie Gordon foursome set themselves up nicely for the playoffs, their only loss coming at the hands of the Paul Warkentin rink from Keewatin (10-8). That said, it was squads skipped by Al Harnden (Idylwylde - Bruce Munro, Duncan Bell, Mark Borgogelli) and Chris Gordon (Copper Cliff - Ali Giles, Tim Lloyd, Craig Ramsey) that would join the eventual champs in the trio that was still standing come Sunday morning.

An outstanding semi-final clash had Team (Chris) Gordon and Team Harnden deadlocked at 3-3 with two ends of play before the latter pulled away, earning a 6-3 victory and a trip to the final. Once again, there was no lack of drama as fans looked out on a scoreboard reading 5-5 heading to the eighth when Robbie Gordon made full use of last rock, scoring a pair for the win.

Still with local curlers on big stages, the Krista Scharf Thunder Bay foursome that features Sudbury second Kendra Lilly along with long-time teammates Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts fell one game shy of advancing to the playoffs, completing round robin play with a mark of 5-3 in Pool B.

That left Northern Ontario behind Manitoba (Beth Peterson - 8-0), Nova Scotia (Christina Black - 6-2) and Alberta (Selena Sturmay - 6-2), with the six-team page format also welcoming Team Canada (Kerri Einarson), and second entries from both Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes) and Nova Scotia (Taylour Stevens) to the fun today and through the weekend.

And two weeks from now, there is a pretty good chance that thousands in Sudbury will tune in at some point as Sudbury vice Tracy Fleury, skip Rachel Homan and company open play at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina with a match against Denmark.

Beginning play on February 12th, Team Canada will also face the United States, Great Britain and Switzerland, with the top two in each pool moving on to semi-final play on February 20th.