Kelowna team hosts blind curling provincial championship this weekend

Photo: Castanet

Coach Faye Wales (bottom right) with some of the members of Kelowna's blind curling league.

The Kelowna Curling Club is hosting a provincial championship with a difference this weekend.

Blind curlers from across B.C. will be shooting for gold. Four teams are competing from Prince George, Vancouver, Campbell River, and the host club.

The Kelowna team consists of Skip Kelly Thom, Third Jacquie Thom, Second Brian Lechelt and Lead Derek Wilson.

While all players in the blind curling league are visually impaired, only some of them are completely without vision.

Coach Faye Wales helps some players slide out of the hack, ensuring they have proper form and alignment, while others use a push stick. Some use a light at the end of their broom to see and others listen for verbal cues.

"I’ve gotten into using a push stick. I don’t slide out of the hack. I used to, but I was sliding all over the place and not keeping a straight line, so the stick helps me with that process," explained Bill Mah, who helped form the blind curling league back in 1990.

If you are interested in taking in some of the games, draws are on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the Kelowna Curling Club.

The winning team will then either head off to Prince George in March for the Western Blind Curling Championship, where they will compete against teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan, or take part in the nationals in 2026.