Curling together for the first time was not a problem for Shelley Birston and her team.
The women’s rink from the Vancouver Curling Club reached the final in the Mainland B.C. Cup Challenge, held at the Richmond Curling Centre April 11 to 13. They finished second to qualify for the Pacific International Challenge, which will be held at the same rink April 16 to 20.
The gold-medal game against team Langlands from Cloverdale was a highlight for skip Birston and her team of Allison DenToom, Siobhan Holladay and Krista Frazee.
“It was competitive but at that point we already knew that we qualified, so we just played that game and had fun,” Birston said. They lost 8-3 to Cloverdale.
A win over the team from Golden Ears in the semifinal earlier that day clinched their spot in the PIC since the top three teams advance. Birston said the win demanded intense focus.
“In curling you never know that you have it all the time. Anything can happen even at the club level,” Birston explained. “You just hope you have a decent game and that the sweepers are calling the right weights.”
They narrowly reached the semifinal. After the round robin, Birston’s team was tied with the Richmond rink but in a tiebreaker, they pulled off a 6-5 win against the home team.
They carried that momentum into the semifinal.
“It feels extremely good,” said Birston. “It’s a lot of hard work but at the end of the year, we have a chance to get entered into the Pacific International. So we’re very pleased that we’ve done so well.”
The tournament was the first time the foursome competed together. Birston and Frazee had played together before but had never competed with Dentoom or Holladay. The four women play in the Thursday night league at the Vancouver Curling Club and agreed to form a team specifically for the Mainland B.C. Challenge Cup.
Earlier this month, Birston defended a national title with a co-ed team and became a three-time Canadian Gay Curling Champion.
She said the women’s team came together at the Challenge Cup and thrived under pressure.
“It was so easy to play as a team, we all clicked together,” said Birston. “We practised so we could feel out each other’s releases and sweeping abilities, but it was easy right from the very start.”
The team will face stiff competition at the 15th annual PIC, where they will play against teams from around British Columbia. The top eight teams in the province will compete for three playoff spots with the winner going on to face an international team in the tournament final.
“Our goal is play well, play solid games, be in the top 3. We want to give our team a chance to be the champion,” said Birston.
Teams from across North America as well as China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea will be competing at the PIC for this year’s title.
Birston has been on the ice for 20 years and said she’s the best games feel effortless.
“Curling is never supposed to be work,” she said.
