ASAA Curling Championship results in gold for St. Paul boys

Last Updated: March 8, 2023By Courtney Nielson

The 2023 ASAA Provincial Curling Championships took place in St. Paul from March first to fourth and St. Paul Regional High School claimed the first-ever curling gold championship banner for the school.

St. Paul Regional High School boy’s team took home gold after defeating Holy Rosary 7-5.

“It’s nice to get students on the ice and getting involved,” said Hank Smid, organizer, and teacher for St. Paul Regional High School.

For the girls, Sexsmith took home the gold title and the mixed gold title to Lacombe.

Altogether, 30 teams from around the province competed in the round-robin style tournament. Many of these teams have never played against each other.

Students in grades 10-12 formed teams of four to compete.

These students run their curling season from October to the end of March where they compete in Bonspiels, Districts, Zones, and lastly Provincials.

“We have 160 athletes and 190 people in total, with over 90 sponsors and multiple volunteers putting this together,” said Angela Noel, Vice Principal of St. Paul Regional High School.

“This is a sport they can play for their entire adult life, most of these kids are multisport athletes.”

The three-day tournament provided a concession, 50/50, raffle tables, player and coaches’ personal bags. A welcome for all the far-away teams was followed by a Saturday night gala for players, coaches, and volunteers to get off the ice and celebrate their accomplishments.

“Hosting something like this is important because it puts St. Paul on the map and shows we can host provincials and big events like this again, it has a positive and economic impact.” said Smid.

St. Paul Regional, otherwise known as the Saints, has a thriving curling team with 18 participating members.

The tournament was fully run by volunteers from St. Paul Regional High School and parents involved within the school community.

“I wanna thank the amount of work that the volunteers put into this tournament and helping us to make it successful,” said Noel.