History of the Pacific International Cup

In 1998, a group of curlers got together and decided that a competition involving Club Champions would benefit grass roots curling. They recognized that while there were many opportunities for competitive curlers to test their skills in cash bonspiels, super leagues and competitive playdowns leading to the Brier, there was still an opportunity to provide club curlers, the grass roots of our game, with the opportunity to participate in premier events.

B.C. Club Challenge
They created what is today known as the BC Club Challenge (originally the Pacific Club Challenge), an event first limited to men's Club Champions from Lower Mainland clubs of the Pacific Coast Curling Association. The inaugural Club Challenge was in the spring of 1999 at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster with 16 Club Champions participating. It was very successful and the organizing group committed to continue the event and with the full support of the Pacific Coast Curling Association, the Club Challenge expanded to include events called Island North and Island South. The BC Interior Curling Association supported the concept and worked with the Club Challenge to initiate events in the interior. In 2005, the Mainland event expanded to include women's club champions.

With the strong partnership with CurlBC, the BC Club Challenge now includes six BC Club Challenge events allowing Club Champions from every curling club in the province to participate in a regional BC Club Challenge Championship. Winners of these events receive regional bragging rights as the best Club Champions and a paid entry into the Pacific International Cup to challenge the rest of the world.

Pacific International Cup
In 2000, the Pacific Coast Curling Association decided to extend the success of the interclub event by supporting the creation of an international competition - another opportunity for Club Champions and the winners of the Club Challenge. An organizing committee was formed and this original committee remains as the core contingent of the Pacific International Cup volunteers. The Richmond Curling Club entered the partnership as the permanent home for the Pacific International Cup.

An invitation to participate was extended to every curling association in geographic proximity to the Pacific Coast Curling Association. The response was positive and warmly received by all of the invited associations. In 2002 the Canadian Curling Association assisted the promotion of the Pacific International Cup for two years by sending the Pacific International Cup champion to represent Canada in an all expense paid curling competition in Japan. The 2002 Pacific International Cup champions from the Gibson's Curling Club won the bronze medal in Japan and the 2003 Pacific International Cup champions from the Vancouver Curling Club were gold medalists. 

In 2004, the Pacific International Cup expanded to include a women's competition for four Mainland and four international women's teams. With the support of our friends from Alaska, the Japanese event was replaced with a trip for the top BC teams to the Curling Classic in Fairbanks. In 2005, the Pacific International Cup was expanded to 32 teams with sixteen international teams (eight men's and eight women's) competing against eight men's and eight women's Club Champions from BC who qualified through the BC Club Challenge events. In 2006, resulting from strong demand, four additional international men's teams were added to the event.

2009 to the present Pacific International Cup
The 2009 Pacific International Cup, the 10th anniversary of the event, was an immense success. The British Columbia champions advanced to The Dominion's first annual national Curling Club championship held at the St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto later that year. In 2014 The Dominion was bought out by Travelers, which has continued its support for club curling, and is providing a truly outstanding experience for the provincial club curling champions. The national championship in 2015 will be held in November at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

The good fellowship and good sportsmanship continue to match the high caliber of curling. Each year the curlers cast votes to determine which teams demonstrated sportsmanship and the spirit of the game.

In the 19 year history of the Pacific International Cup:
- men’s and women’s teams from 51 different B.C. clubs have participated; and
- 23 different curling associations (country or State) have had teams participating.

There are 11 administrative regions in Curl BC. Every region has had at least two curling clubs
participate in the Pacific International Cup and nine of the 11 regions have had three or more clubs participate in the Pacific International Cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated: September 19, 2021

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