‘Tis my final curling column of the season – which kind of gives way to two separate directions: looking back on the year that was, or looking forward to next year to come.
A notorious fence-sitter, I opted to do both.
Bruce Munro will be celebrating his 70th birthday by the time the 2026-2027 winter of rock-throwing begins, but for as much as he remains thankful to still be able to play the sport that he loves, the well-liked gent is not all that convinced that he wants to hit the 100 game plateau once again, after doing so this year.
A mainstay on both the NOCA seniors and masters circuits, Munro was curling four days a week, in addition to mixing in some key bonspiel play: capturing the 18th Annual Assante 101 Senior Open Bonspiel in North Bay alongside Mark Borgogelli, Doug Hong and Dion Dumontelle and beaten in the final end of the provincial masters in New Liskeard a few months later.
That latter rink would gather Munro and Borgogelli with Duncan Bell and Al Harnden, the Sudbury-rink falling to Robbie Gordon in the final. Throw in a provincial seniors appearance with the afore-mentioned Robbie Gordon, as well as Doug Hong and Lee Toner and one can easily see why Munro refers to these two particular age brackets as being very much a “curling community”.
“I’ve played against these guys so often, but then filled in at times with them (as teammates) as well,” said Munro. “The crossover is not a big to-do – but you learn things every time you go away with them. I’ve had a chance to play with and play against some very good curlers.”
“You learn something every time you are out there – if you are paying attention. With a good skip like Robbie Gordon, he will point those things out to you – nicely.”
On this Tuesday evening at the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club, there is an absolutely wonderful cross-section of curling talent. Munro notes that he has shared thoughts with the up and comers, the young Sophie Perreault foursome, for instance, touching on the finer details that they will be sure to absorb over time.
Truth is, for as much as Bruce Munro enjoys being out of the ice, he is very simply a fan of curling, all-around. It’s why he would take the time to attend a pair of Briers over the years, making the trek to North Bay to catch some of the action at the 2018 Women’s World Curling Championship.
And while he will still tune in, from time to time, when his favourite pastime is on TV.
“I love what the Rock League is trying to do, introducing different things,” said Munro. “I like some of that stuff – the no-tick rule – but I don’t think we are quite ready for that for the Brier.”
That might be true, but local curling sensations Tracy Fleury and younger brother Jacob Horgan apparently were more than ready for these newer alterations to a game steeped in tradition.
Members of the Shield Curling Club team that also featured captain Brad Jacobs, Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel, Dan Marsh, Amos Mosaner, Kerri Einarson, Agnes Knochenhauer, Marlee Powers, Carole Howard and GM Carter Rycroft, the locals helped lift their team to the championship, besting the Typhoon Curling Club two games to one.
Both teams earned their spots in the final by pulling off 3-0 upsets of the top two teams in the competition (Alpine Curling Club; Northern United), though as it turned out, all six teams finished round robin play within arms-length of each other.
That kind of excitement around curling is exactly what Amanda Gates is hoping to create in her new role as Winter Operations and Members Services Manager at the Idylwylde. A long-time teammate of Tracy Fleury and one of the most outgoing and upbeat young women you might ever want to meet, Gates has only just jumped into the challenge, though not without at least some idea of where she sees her efforts directed.
“My number one priority for next year is just improving member experience,” said Gates. “We want our current members to be just getting a little more from us.”
Just a couple of years removed from the in-town chatter about whether curling would even continue to be offered at the Idylwylde, Gates is ultra-focused on working hand in hand with the other curling facilities in Sudbury, rather than targetting the membership that currently helps to keep those venues afloat.
“The new members I am looking for are non-curlers,” she explained. “I want to get more people curling. I want to see all of the clubs in town succeed. I’ve been at every club in Sudbury and I love them all.”
And for as much as Gates is itching to dive right in, she is now able to draw upon four decades of life experience on this earth to approach her list of deliverables with a mindset that likely differs a little from the youngster who was quoted, in her youth, as suggesting that her affinity from curling came simply from viewing the undertaking as a far better Sunday morning option than heading off to church with her family.
“I’m kind of a “let’s go” kind of a person – but I am definitely going to move at a medium pace, introducing some new stuff but still keeping a lot of things the same and learning why things are the way that they are.”
Of course, those are lessons for another year – at which time Randy in the Rings is (hopefully) back in the saddle to keep one and all updated on the happenings of the curling scene in Sudbury.
