New Zealand Curling

An Auckland Curling Club team has won the Victoria Curling Association's 2011 Open Bonspiel title.

The 8-team tournament was held at Melbourne's Medibank Icehouse on 26-28 September in conjunction with the Australian Junior, Senior and Mixed Doubles Championships.

The championship playoff format for Auckland Curling Club’s 2011 season has been finalised.

After the round robin has been completed on 25 September the league will split into 3 division with 6 teams in each, and there will be playoffs to find the winner of each division.

Both new and returning curlers will benefit from Auckland Curling Club's Skills, Strategy and Etiquette Clinic this Sunday says club president Al Langille.

"Whether your curling experience is one week, one season or decades, you'll find it valuable," he says. "The cost is $10, but this will be credited to your membership fees."

Anyone who missed last week's successful "Have A Go" night will also have another chance this Sunday.

	A few of Auckland's new curlers – see the full photo gallery

Auckland Curling Club's season-opening Have A Go night last Sunday 10 April was a big success says club President Al Langille.

"We had 50 new players take to the ice," he said. "And we hope to see many of them back for more in the club or school league this year."

Dates for Auckland Curling's Club and Secondary School league have been confirmed.

This will be an exciting year for the club with Paradice coming through on their commitment to improve the facility. Enhancements include a new Ice Plant, new cooling pipes and floor, rock cooler closer to the ice, new boards with glass all around and new air conditioning.

The Northern Lights team of Lorne DePape, Dean Fotti and Jo Norman won a hotly contested Auckland Open Bonspiel over Labour Weekend, heading off J3 (Josh Dallow, Jon Jaksic and Jarred Jaksic) in a final match that was much tighter that the score of 10-5 would suggest.

For the third year running, Auckland Curling Club's Premier League Final was a last-stone thriller. And for the third year running, the skip of the winning team was a Scotsman called Kenny.

Last year Kenny Thomson led A.R.S.E. to a dramatic extra-end win to take the Cameron Shield, and this year Altitude's Kenny Williamson clinched the title with his last stone to repeat his team's 2008 victory.

The Shy Teds – Kieran Ford, Brett Sargon, Raegan Lupi and Jed Tan – came out of their shells to win a short and sharp 2010 Auckland Under-21 Curling Championship at Paradice Avondale on Sunday 12 September. But the result was in doubt until the last stone.

It was Auckland's Under-21 curlers who took the honours in the 2010 Auckland Mixed Doubles Curling Championship at Paradice Avondale on Sunday 22 August.

Chelsea Farley and Keswick Pearson won the trophy with a perfect record, while Chelsea's sister Tessa and Kieran Ford took the runner-up spot. Another Auckland junior, Eleanor Adviento, teamed up with 2006 Olympian Lorne DePape to claim third.