The Deneen Cup, a Manitoba Ladies curling tradition, renewed competition at Winnipeg’s Pembina Curling Club on Saturday, January 14, 2024.
The Deneen Cup dates back to the early days of organized women’s curling in Manitoba. Its intent was, and continues to be, to create an opportunity for creation of relationships between clubs and curlers in a friendly inter-club competition.
The first renewal saw two teams of women from Lorette Curling Club travel to Pembina for two games of curling and hospitality, hosted by Pembina.
During the 8-end games, the host four on each sheet of ice changes sheets at the mid-game break – creating the opportunity for all eight competitors from each club to play against the eight from the other club. Total score of the two games decides the winner.
Tara Kolisnyk, vice-president of the Lorette Curling Club, is chair of the coordinating committee which has put time and effort into renewal of the Deneen Cup Competition over the past year. She was one of the Lorette curlers who visited Pembina.
While it is inevitable that score will be kept, Ms. Kolisynk emphasised the importance of the hospitality received at Pembina. “Pembina CC were fantastic hosts,” she says.
During the mid-game break, and again over supper hosted by Pembina, she noted that “we spent the time visiting, asking about different leagues, bonspiels and sharing information about our respective clubs. And the food and atmosphere were top notch.”
She says the event “really solidified the social aspect of curling. Yes, everyone wanted to play their best and compete to the best of their abilities but it was awesome to see 16 ladies come together, get along and enjoy the sport we all love to play.”
For the historical record, the winner of the renewal match was Pembina CC, whose teams won by a total score of 22-9. As winner, Pembina will send two teams to Portage la Prairie in the next match in the series.
The 2023/2024 Deneen Cup has 5 clubs competing, with four clubs hosting games for the season. These games are spread through January and February.
Future challengers include Portage la Prairie (to host by January 28), St. Vital (to host by February 11), and Charleswood (to host by February 28).
Lessons learned from the matches this season will be taken into consideration in the planning and organizing for next season. Registration information for the 2024/2025 season will be available on the Curl Manitoba website in March 2024. The rules and information about the Deneen Cup are also available on the website.
Questions regarding the Deneen Cup can be directed to [email protected].
The concept of the Deneen Cup mirrors CurlManitoba’s O’Grady Challenge.
On behalf of the O’Grady Challenge Trustees, Ron Margolis extended his congratulations to the volunteers who have taken on the task of renewing the Deneen Cup inter-club competition. “We have seen the value of the O’Grady in creating friendly competition between clubs and in maintaining the traditional emphasis on comradeship and friendly rivalry ahead of competition. We know the Deneen Cup will bring those same attributes to women curlers in Manitoba as the O’Grady Challenge has for the men,” he said.
<><>
Participants in the Deneen Cup renewal’s first match included:
Pembina Curling Club
Staci Price, Laura Brinkman, Colbie Sierhuis, Danielle Wutske, Lisa Birchard, Samantha Gevers, Quinn Allan, and Hannah Thiessen
Lorette Curling Club
Adele Butcher, Tara Kolisnyk, Lucille Brunette, Natalie Audette, Shawna Kynoch, Gisele Chartier, Collette Wilvers, and Yvonne Delorme
