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20th annual Pacific International Cup underway

Curling Canada recognizes key volunteers at Thursday night's banquet
curling
Longtime Pacific International Cup volunteers were recognized by Curling Canada during Thursday's banquet for the 20th annual event. From left to right Jim Schuman, Jim Mann Jack Bowman (Curling Canada), Ettie O’Connell and Howie Larke. Missing from photo is Wayne Braun.

The unsung heroes of the Pacific International Cup were recognized by Curling Canada as the 20th annual event is well-underway at the Richmond Curling Club.

Longtime volunteers Jim Schuman (chair), Jim Mann (vice-chair), Wayne Braun (director of on-ice operations), Howie Larke (sponsorship director) and Ettie O’Connell (historian/webmaster) were presented the prestigious Award of Achievement by Curling Canada’s Jack Bowman as part of Thursday night’s banquet festivities.

For two decades, the Pacific International Cup (PIC) has championed grassroots curling with its annual championship for club teams at the RCC.

The PIC has grown from a B.C.-centric event into a wildly popular international tournament, with entries from all over the United States, China, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. 

Future world champion Bingyu (Betty) Wang’s first significant curling victory took place at the PIC.

They all come to compete, but also to share in the spirit and fellowship of club curling, thanks to an exceptional group of volunteers who’ve taken on the task of organizing the PIC.

The core of that group is the executive committee that has been in place since day one. 

Curling Canada’s Award of Achievement recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to curling in one of four areas — builder, technical development (instructor, coach, official, ice technician), marketing and media.

This year’s event is back to its original format of balanced men’s and women’s pools. It means the participating B.C. rinks get to face competition from outside of the province from start to finish.

Round-robin action continues through until Saturday morning. The men’s and women’s semi-finals are slated for 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the championship games at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free.