ICA Opening Bonspiel and Training Day

Thirty ICA members gathered last week at Greenacres to start the season in earnest. To help get members back into the swing of things this was a bumper event with a morning training day preceding an afternoon bonspiel.

The training morning was generously supported by the WCF Development Assistance Program to help the ICA to hit the ground running in their post-pandemic recovery. This was incredibly gratefully received by members of all abilities. “It was such a wonderful opportunity to practice rather than to be thrown into a game” explained member Clare McCormick. Eleanor Burns agreed: “I was just so happy to have the chance to practice after so long, it was really important to get my confidence back”. After getting to grips with the ice, members worked on a number of skills; honing their setups and deliveries concentrating on consistent rotation and weight control. For some members though, the aim of the session was a lot simpler: “I’ve only fallen once – so that’s a success” Steve Callen wryly noted.

With the sea legs re-established; 8 teams took to the ice in the afternoon with some incredible shot-making accompanying some close (and not so close) games. The final scores were:

    Neil Fyfe 10 – 4 John Wilson

    Alison Fyfe 10 – 6 Jen Ward

    JJ Kenny 3 – 12 Andrew Gilmore

    James Russell 9 – 5 David Whyte

That meant that the winning team were Andrew Gilmore, Dave Hibberd, Isla Kinnear and Ari Furey. President Eoin presented the prizes, thanking everyone at Greenacres for keeping everyone safe, fed and entertained and expressed a huge debt of gratitude for the number of members supporting the event. In particular, he welcomed Brian Mathews all the way from Dublin and new member Megan Priestley.

We’re off and away – stay tuned for the rest of season 2021-22!

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