Longtime volunteers of the Pacific International Cup have been recognized by Curling Canada, winning the national organization’s prestigious Award of Achievement.
For two decades, the Pacific International Cup (PIC) has championed grassroots curling with its annual championship for club teams at the Richmond Curling Club.
Celebrating its 20th edition next month (April 17-21), the PIC has grown from a B.C.-centric event into a wildly popular international event, with entries from all over the United States, China, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. Future world champion Bingyu (Betty) Wang’s first significant curling victory took place at the PIC.
They all come to compete, but also to share in the spirit and fellowship of club curling, thanks to an exception group of volunteers who’ve taken on the task of organizing the PIC.
The core of that group is the executive committee that has been in place since day one, and is certainly worthy of the Curling Canada Award of Achievement:
They include: Jim Schuman (chair), Jim Mann (vice-chair), Wayne Braun (director of on-cce operations), Howie Larke (sponsorship director) and Ettie O’Connell (drawmaster/historian/webmaster).
Curling Canada’s Award of Achievement recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to curling in one of four areas — builder, technical development (instructor, coach, official, ice technician), marketing and media.