Pacific International Cup

The Pacific International Cup (PIC) is an international bonspiel held annually in April at the Richmond Curling Club in Richmond, British Columbia. The objective of the PIC is to promote and develop curling at a grass-roots level both in British Columbia and internationally by providing club teams an opportunity to play in a premier international tournament.[1] Over the years teams from 23 different countries and US states have participated in the bonspiel,[2] including from China, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil,[3] and Singapore.[4]

Pacific International Cup
Established1999
Host cityRichmond, British Columbia
ArenaRichmond Curling Centre
Current champions (2019)
MenBritish Columbia Ron Schmidt, Comox Valley CC
WomenYukon Peggy Dorosz, Yukon

The PIC invites 16 men's teams and 16 women's teams, 13 each from outside of British Columbia (Yukon and international) and the top 3 teams from the BC Club Challenge Championship.[5]

History edit

Originally called the Pacific Club Challenge, the inaugural event was held in 1999 at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster, British Columbia.[2] At that time it was only open to the men's club champions from the Lower Mainlands division of the Pacific Coast Curling Association (one of the precursors to the current Curl BC association). Over time the club challenge was opened to all of the Pacific Coast Curling Association (and subsequently Curl BC) and acted as a provincial club championship. In 2019 the BC Club Challenge became a separate event where club champions from each curling club in the province have a chance to become provincial club champion and represent British Columbia at the national Travelers Curling Club Championship.[6] The top 3 men's and women's teams in the BC Club Challenge Championship gain entry into the Pacific International Cup.[7]

In 2000 the bonspiel expanded to include international and Yukon teams and in 2004 added a women's division.[2] From 2012 to 2018 both men's and women's had two pools, the international pool and the British Columbia pool which acted as the provincial club challenge championship. The winners of each pool would then play each other to become the men's and women's overall PIC champions.[8]

In March, 2019 Curling Canada honoured the organizers of the Pacific International Cup with the prestigious Award of Achievement in recognition of the event's impact on curling.[3]

The 2020 PIC was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Champions edit

Men's Champions[8]
Year Winning Team Winning Team's Club/Locale
2000 Fred Puetz, Ian Turner, Marc Fillion, Dennis Robertson  Salmon Arm CC, Salmon Arm, BC
2001 Cal Fister, Murray Day, Scott Gregory, Cary Blackburn  Golden Ears CC, Maple Ridge, BC
2002 Jared Wannamaker, Kevan Penonzek, Ken Johnson, Cameron Johnston, Dwayne Clegg  Gibsons CC, Gibsons, BC
2003 Brian Gessner, Tom Lutes, Lawrence Layton, Jim Graham  Vancouver CC, Vancouver, BC
2004 Bob Chlan, Jeff MacPheat, Harold Levesque, Duke Lecuyer, Bert Levesque  Nanaimo CC, Nanaimo, BC
2005 Gerald Poelman, Randy Thiessen, Craig Burton, Jim Machell, Stuart Procter  Duncan CC, Duncan, BC
2006 Cal Fister, Cary Blackburn, Brent Kupser, Don Wakefield  Golden Ears CC, Maple Ridge, BC
2007 Stu Harris, Dean Lunn, Don Nahnybida, Mario Pimentel  Valley CC
2008 Cal Fister, Garth Moore, Murray Day, Brian Williams  Golden Ears CC, Maple Ridge, BC
2009 Kevin Geistlinger, Darin Heath, Kevin Pickering, Dan Colton  Vernon CC, Vernon, BC
2010 Stu Harris, Dean Lunn, Todd O'Dell, Bob Crocker  Cloverdale CC, Cloverdale, BC
2011 Dwight Hodder, Paul Quesnel, Gary Farr, Cheyne Hodder  Ashcroft CC, Ashcroft, BC
2012 Randie Shen, Brendon Liu, Nick Hsu, Steve Koo, Ken Chung  Chinese Taipei
2013 Blaine Black, Shaun Everest, Doug McCrae, Kim Dixon  Penticton CC, Penticton, BC
2014 Darren Frycz, Steve Claxton, Don Monk, Bill Nickerson  Langley CC, Langley, BC
2015 Kevin Britz, Ken Britz, James Crawford, Darren Jarvis  Chilliwack CC, Chilliwack, BC
2016 Ron Schmidt, Norm Coté, Craig Bernes, Darren Richards  Comox Valley CC, Courtenay, BC
2017 John Shoesmith, Andrew Ernst, Ed Strachan, John Harrison  Washington, USA
2018[9] Vic Shimizu, Cody Tanaka, Trevor Bakken, Mark Yodogawa  Richmond CC, Richmond, BC
2019 Ron Schmidt, Norm Coté, Mike Meeres, Darren Richards  Comox Valley CC, Courtenay, BC
2020 Cancelled
Women's Champions[8]
Year Winning Team Winning Team's Club/Locale
2004 Leanne Andrews, Jennifer Gay, Susan Milum, Carolyn Brand  Valley CC
2005 Nancy Richard, Clare Cloutier, Leslie Frosch, Doreen Deaver, Miyo Konno  Washington, USA
2006 Bingyu Wang, Qingshuang Yue, Yin Liu, Yan Zhou, Yue Sun  China
2007 Shellan Reed, Dianne Gauthier, Cynthia Parton, Deanna Kersey  Royal City CC, New Westminster, BC
2008 Marilou Richter, Marnie Jepsen, Debbie Jones-Walker, Dianne Gauthier, Sandra Comadina  Royal City CC, New Westminster, BC
2009 Lil Blashko, Cindy Curtain, Sandy Heath, Tammy Brennan  Penticton CC, Penticton, BC
2010 Cory McLaughlin, Corri Roberts, Danielle Callens, Crystal Murray  Cloverdale CC, Cloverdale, BC
2011 Deb Goodwin, Lonnie Schopp, Kim Jonsson, Lori Ross  Comox Valley CC, Courtenay, BC
2012 Deb Goodwin, Lonnie Schopp, Kim Jonsson, Lori Ross  Comox Valley CC, Courtenay, BC
2013 Amy Gibson, Rebecca Turley, Carman Cheng, Michelle Dunn  Vancouver CC, Vancouver, BC
2014 Cathy Shuttleworth, Vicky Persinger, Catharine Persinger, Adie Callahan  Alaska, USA
2015 Leanne Andrews, Jenn Gay, Kim Mclandress, Philippa Johnston  Cloverdale CC, Cloverdale, BC
2016 Cora Farrell, Kelly Snider, Erica Blake, Karen Spaleta  Alaska, USA
2017 Kim Dennis, Heather Beatty, Dawn Mesana, Jenn Gauthier  Richmond CC, Richmond, BC
2018[10] Lori Olsen, Kelsey Martin, Lisa Robitaille, Andrea Bourassa  McArthur Island CC, Kamloops, BC
2019 Peggy Dorosz, Laini Klassen,Kandice Braga, Inge Brown  Yukon
2020 Cancelled

References edit

  1. ^ "PIC - Vision and Mission". www.picup.ca. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  2. ^ a b c "PIC - History". www.picup.ca. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  3. ^ a b "Pacific International Cup wins national award". Richmond News. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  4. ^ Booth, Mark. "Pacific International Cup underway at Richmond Curling Club". Vancouver Courier. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  5. ^ "Pacific International Cup". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  6. ^ "BC Club Challenge". Curl BC. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  7. ^ "Chilliwack Curling Club crew tackles Club Challenge playdown". Chilliwack Progress. 2019-02-06. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  8. ^ a b c "PIC - Past Champions". www.picup.ca. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  9. ^ Booth, Mark. "Tsawwassen curler makes it back-to-back big wins in Richmond". Delta Optimist. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  10. ^ "McArthur Island rink wins international curling event". CFJC Today. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2019-04-02.

External links edit