A Capital One Rocks & Rings junior clinic kicked things offBoom.
Capital One Canada and the organizing committee for the 2012 Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel announced today that more than $100,000 was raised for SickKids Foundation at their third annual event, held June 1-2 in Toronto.
And the über-generous curling world can once again pat itself on the back.
Twenty-six celebrity curling skips made up of Canadian and international world champions, Olympians, and national and regional champions teamed with nearly 100 other recreational participants at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.
The total amount of monies raised now sits at $243,000+ in just three years.
“We are obviously delighted with the response from the event participants, sponsors and volunteers” said event co-chair Jeff Steski in a news release. “We did not expect to reach the six-figure mark in donations so early in the life of this event, but the generosity of the curling world has revealed itself once again.”
It’s not how you play – it’s how (good) you look!The fourth annual Celebrity Bonspiel in support of SickKids Foundation will be held May 31 to June 1, 2013 at Toronto Cricket.
“We want to thank the curling community for once again opening their hearts and wallets to help support the SickKids Foundation,” said Ian Cunningham, aka the Grand Poobah of Curling at Capital One Canada.
“The money that has been raised will make a real difference in the lives of some very important kids.”
Winnipeg skip Mike McEwen captured the main event title with a victory over Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland. McEwen had previously won the third event trophy in 2011, at his first Bonspiel appearance.
Second event honours went to Ottawa’s Craig Savill who upended Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers.
Savill – of course – is a member of Glenn Howard’s reigning 2012 world men’s championship team while Carruthers – of course – is a member of the 2011 world men’s championship squad led by Jeff Stoughton.
Savill also defeated event arch-rival Kaitlyn Lawes in opening-draw action, marking his third win over Lawes in consecutive years. As a consequence of her loss, Lawes was forced to wear an inflatable swim toy throughout the event (photo below) and also engage in other as-yet-unidentified embarrassments.
Kaitlyn Lawes with “Leif”When questioned by The Curling News, Lawes admitted only that Savill’s victory meant that she had to “do stuff”.
In the third event final, Quebec veteran Pierre Charette, a six-time Brier competitor and the president of the World Curling Players’ Association, defeated 2012 U.S. men’s skip Heath McCormick, who resides in Sarnia, Ontario.
As readers might have guessed, this event demands a rather strict emphasis on fun. Each of the 26 participating teams consisted of a celebrity skip (ie. captain) who teamed with three recreational curlers, including first-time rookies.
Each participant registered individually for the Bonspiel, and undertook his or her own personal fundraising campaign.
McEwen’s victorious teammates were Henrik Londen and Roberta Minna of the host Cricket club, and Simon Elkin of Leaside.
In addition to title sponsor Capital One, the event was supported by BlackRock, iShares, Equifax, Raymond James, Goldline and some 56-year-old rag called The Curling News.
Event photos by Anil Mungal are copyright ® Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel and The Curling News