The 2013 Canadian Horseshoe Pitching Championships were hosted by the Belleville Horseshoe Club . They were held from July 10-13 at the Quinte Sports Centre, in Belleville, Ontario.
There were a total of 211 participants with 7 provinces represented as follow: Ontario (148), Quebec (23), Saskatchewan (14), Alberta (13), B.C. (7), New Brunswick (5) and Nova Scotia (1). Some of them arrived earlier to take part at the AGM held on Tuesday July 9th. The official start was given with the opening ceremonies Wednesday, July 10th morning.
The following champions were crowned in 8 divisions:
- Men’s – Adam Ellis, Innisfil, Ont.. (65.8%)
- Women’s – Sylvianne Moisan, L’Epiphanie, Qc (73.9%)
- Elders – Alvin Nanninga, Neerlandia, Alb. (68.6%)
- Senior Men’s – Frank Weaver, Waterford, Ont. (54.4%)
- Senior Women’s – Angeline Moisan, St-Raymond, Qc. (55.4%)
- Jr Boys – Kyle Luyt, St. Thomas, Ont. (33.5%)
- Jr Girls – Kaitlyn Pond, Aylmer, Ont. (44.2%)
- PeeWee – DaltonThomas, Victoria, B.C. (15.4%)
Two defending champions were able to retain their title earned in 2012. Alvin Nanninga won his third consecutive Elders title, besting Roland Duval in a playoff. That was a tough and very well matched group. Dalton Moffat successfully defended his crown in the PeeWee division edging the Christensen brothers. Speaking of brothers, Kyle Luyt won his first Junior Boys title, finishing in front of his brother Justin and Quebec’s Cedryk Weightman. All the other champions had been crowned in the past.
Sylvianne Moisan won her 16th Women’s title. She was also the only participant (out of 211) to go undefeated, helped by her 73.9% overall average, high of the tournament. She now has a total of 87 consecutive wins at the Canadians. Her mother, Angeline Moisan also won the Senior Women’s title with an overall average of 55.4%. Angeline had previously won that title in 2009.
Adam Ellis won his second Canadian Men’s title, 12 years after his initial crown. There were no easy games in this group where 6 of the 8 participants were former Canadian champs! One of Adam’s losses came at the hands of impressive rookie Greg Palumbo.
The two other champions crowned in Belleville had won their first in 2011. They are Kaytlin Pond (Junior Girls) and Frank Weaver (Senior Men 40’).
There was good media coverage with articles carried in the EMC Belleville and the Intelligencer. There was also a CKWS-TV article and video about the Championships.
The championships concluded on Saturday July 13th with the finals, banquet and awards. Two members were newly inducted into the Horseshoe Canada Hall of Fame as outstanding organizer/promoter. They are Kay McKay from Alberta and Cecil Mitchell from Nova Scotia who unfortunately could not be present. After the award presentations to the various winners, we proceeded to formal transfer of the “Silver Shoe” showing the hosts of the annual championships, from Belleville to Calgary.
Thanks to our hosts, their sponsors and volunteers for another great event! Thanks also to Horseshoe Canada and more particularly to tournament directors Wally and Sheryl Arnold, who will be replaced by Dianne Beck. Looking forward to seeing you in Calgary 2014 and St.Stephen, N.B. in 2015!
Here are a few pictures courtesy of Dana Howell.
Men’s A group: Ron, Adam, Tom and Jean-Pierre. Front row: Duncan and Colin.
Women’s A group: Terrie, Clara, Donna, Sylvianne, Gloria. Front row: Jane, Tammy, Tracy.
Elders A group: Terry, Roland, Alvin, Maurice, Lyle, Gary.
Sr Men’s 40′ A: Ric, Charlie, Stan, Michel, Ron. Front: Frank.
Sr Women: Lia, Lucy, Monique, Angeline, Marion, Nancy.
PeeWee: Garrett, Dalton, Brayden.
Juniors A: Justin, Kyle, Nicholas, Cedryk, Kaitlyn, Stacey.
Overall view
Adam Ellis (2013 men’s champ) pitching, while 2012 champ Colin Finnie watches.
