On 8 March 2016, three out of four of Marc Garneau C.I.’s curling teams played their playoff games at Tam Heather Curling and Tennis Club: Girl’s Tier 2 A, Girl’s Tier 2 B, and Boy’s Tier 2. All four teams were coached by Ms. Wiltenburg.
The Girl’s A team, who had placed third in the overall season, faced the team that placed second, Victoria Park Collegiate Institute. The team lost to Victoria Park C.I. with a score of 5-6.
Having placed first in the overall season, the Girl’s B team faced the fourth place team, Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute. They won their semi-final match with a score of 5-4, and will be moving onto the finals match on 24 March 2016.
“I think we’ve been very fortunate so far, and hopefully we can continue succeeding,” says Caryn Qian, the skip (team captain) on the Girl’s B team. “I think it was a very lucky season, and it was a cool thing to try out.”
The Girl’s A team had five players who were on the curling team for the first time, and one player who was a veteran. The Girl’s B team consisted solely of players in Grade 9, so this season was their first attempt at curling.
The Boy’s Tier 2 team faced the second place team in their league, John A. MacDonald Collegiate Institute. They lost with a score of 4-11.
The Boy’s Tier 2 and Girl’s A team will be finishing their season off with a third place match on 24 March 2016.
As previously mentioned, MGCI had four curling teams this year. The Boy’s Tier 1 team played their final match on 26 Feb 2016, a city championship match that would allow them to qualify for OFSAA. Unfortunately, the team lost with a score of 5-7 against Richview Collegiate Institute at the Bayview Golf and Country Club.
When asked about the overall season, Ryan Lin, the vice skip—or, as he would like to be called, the “vice captain”—of the Boy’s Tier 1 team said, “It was very enjoyable playing with everyone on the team again this year.”
The overall season for the Tier 2 teams ended with their last non-playoff game on 1 March 2016. The curling league starts in December each year, so the curling season is longer than that of most sports. This allows the team to form a small community. All four MGCI Teams played the majority of their games at the Tam Heather Curling and Tennis Club in Scarborough and the Bayview Glen Golf and Country Club in Markham.
The team has seen a significant increase in members from the previous school year to this one. This year, there were no members who were in Grade 12, so the larger team is looking forward to next year’s season.
