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| Carl Bax (left) and Alec Denys are looking forward to representing the Peterborough Curling Club at the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. at the end of April. Dale Clifford/Peterborough Examiner/QMI Agency |
Carl Bax has another shot and would like to reach the Promised Land this time around.
Bax, a 63-year-old curler from the Peterborough Curling Club (PCC), is the vice on a crew playing under that banner heading to the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. from April 27 to May 2.
Along with club mate Alec Denys, who is lead and the same age, skip Chris Rees and second Martha Gustafson out of the Toronto Cricket Skate and Curling Club, they qualified for the national stage by winning the Ontario championship in late, thrilling hard-fought fashion in Cambridge on Friday.
They edged Ottawa Valley’s Collinda Joseph 8-7 with a dramatic steal in the eighth and final end of the final. They finished undefeated at 5-0, including 4-0 in the five-team round-robin.
This is Bax’s fifth trip to the Canadian championship, the last coming in 2011, and he has come home with a silver medal and two bronze. They included trips to Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
“It would be nice to do it and bring the Canadian banner here (to the PCC),’’ said Bax, who played in club senior men’s tag draw play with Denys on Monday morning. “We have been practising hard and looking forward to it.’’
Bax, out of Peterborough, has competed at the provincial championship 11 times, Denys, from Warsaw, five and has been with Rees since 2005. Denys joined the team for the 2010-11 season, is going to his second nationals, and Gustafson is in her second year with the group. Bax and Denys, also an accomplished archer with Paralympic experience, are sponsored by Liberty Tax Service and supported by the club. They also curl in a competitive men’s league.
“We will have to curl really well,’’ added Denys. “We curled against good teams in the Ontario championship and will be facing even better teams in Quebec.’’
There are 10 teams vying for the national title, including one from Northern Ontario and one from Newfoundland and Labrador. Every province but Prince Edward Island is represented. They play a nine-game round-robin, facing each team once, before the playoff round begins.
Bax said there were a couple of reasons for the team’s success.
“Chris is very talented and sees the ice really well,’’ he said. “We moved Alec to lead and is the best lead we have ever had.’’
The team has a spare in Karen Van Nest, who is from Wiarton, and coach in Tom Ward, who hails from Toronto. They were the only team without a coach in Galt but are required to have one at the national level.
“We are knowledgeable enough about the game, trust each other and get along well,’’ added Bax. “We make decisions quickly.’’
The PCC foursome was put to the test in Galt and had to work hard to win the crown and move on.
“It was a nail biter right to the end,’’ said Bax. “It looked grim for a while and there was a sense of disbelief when it was over.’’
Denys added: “It could have gone either way.’’
Bax said while it would be great to win the national championship, it wasn’t the only thing that made it a big event.
“We are like one big family and it will be great to see everybody again,’’ he said. “There is camaraderie.’’
dale.clifford@sunmedia.ca
Bax, a 63-year-old curler from the Peterborough Curling Club (PCC), is the vice on a crew playing under that banner heading to the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. from April 27 to May 2.
Along with club mate Alec Denys, who is lead and the same age, skip Chris Rees and second Martha Gustafson out of the Toronto Cricket Skate and Curling Club, they qualified for the national stage by winning the Ontario championship in late, thrilling hard-fought fashion in Cambridge on Friday.
They edged Ottawa Valley’s Collinda Joseph 8-7 with a dramatic steal in the eighth and final end of the final. They finished undefeated at 5-0, including 4-0 in the five-team round-robin.
This is Bax’s fifth trip to the Canadian championship, the last coming in 2011, and he has come home with a silver medal and two bronze. They included trips to Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
“It would be nice to do it and bring the Canadian banner here (to the PCC),’’ said Bax, who played in club senior men’s tag draw play with Denys on Monday morning. “We have been practising hard and looking forward to it.’’
Bax, out of Peterborough, has competed at the provincial championship 11 times, Denys, from Warsaw, five and has been with Rees since 2005. Denys joined the team for the 2010-11 season, is going to his second nationals, and Gustafson is in her second year with the group. Bax and Denys, also an accomplished archer with Paralympic experience, are sponsored by Liberty Tax Service and supported by the club. They also curl in a competitive men’s league.
“We will have to curl really well,’’ added Denys. “We curled against good teams in the Ontario championship and will be facing even better teams in Quebec.’’
There are 10 teams vying for the national title, including one from Northern Ontario and one from Newfoundland and Labrador. Every province but Prince Edward Island is represented. They play a nine-game round-robin, facing each team once, before the playoff round begins.
Bax said there were a couple of reasons for the team’s success.
“Chris is very talented and sees the ice really well,’’ he said. “We moved Alec to lead and is the best lead we have ever had.’’
The team has a spare in Karen Van Nest, who is from Wiarton, and coach in Tom Ward, who hails from Toronto. They were the only team without a coach in Galt but are required to have one at the national level.
“We are knowledgeable enough about the game, trust each other and get along well,’’ added Bax. “We make decisions quickly.’’
The PCC foursome was put to the test in Galt and had to work hard to win the crown and move on.
“It was a nail biter right to the end,’’ said Bax. “It looked grim for a while and there was a sense of disbelief when it was over.’’
Denys added: “It could have gone either way.’’
Bax said while it would be great to win the national championship, it wasn’t the only thing that made it a big event.
“We are like one big family and it will be great to see everybody again,’’ he said. “There is camaraderie.’’
dale.clifford@sunmedia.ca
1 comment:
It was a nail biting game and both teams played extremely well. Take that game with you and you'll be fine. Congrats to all of you and best of luck.
Katie
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