麻豆社区

An appeal filed by the losing coach following the Yukon Junior Curling Championships held last month in Teslin has been rejected by the territory's governing body.

Jeff Cressman, coach of Team Nerysoo, filed the appeal with the Yukon Curling Association after the championship, a best-of-three series won by Team Young 8-0 and 9-2.

Team Young's win marked the seventh straight time skip Mitchell Young and third Will Mahoney have booked their ticket to the national junior championships, which will be held in Fort McMurray, Alta., later this month.

Team Young and Team Nerysoo were the only two junior men's rinks participating in the championship, held Dec. 22 and 23.

Sarah Koltun's rink won the women's side for the seventh straight year, two games to one over a younger squad led by Bailey Horte.

Cressman, the president of Basketball Yukon, filed the appeal via an email to the YCA, listing a number of reasons that factored into his decision.

Chief among Cressman's complaints was a perceived "unfair advantage鈥� gained by Team Young coach Wade Scoffin, who visited the Teslin Recreation Complex a week prior to the tournament in the role of technical director for the curling association.

Other complaints listed by the 42-year-old coach included travelling in extreme cold conditions, poor ice quality, and unpredictable rocks.

A severe cold snap, which saw temperatures hovering around -30 C, delayed the finalization of the tournament's location until the day before the championship was scheduled to begin.

"In all my years of going to championships, I have never been involved in anything as crazy as the last two days have been,鈥� Cressman wrote in his email, dated Dec. 23.

Cressman's 14-year-old son, Bailey Muir-Cressman, is the third for Team Nerysoo, skipped by fellow 14-year-old Chris Nerysoo, formerly of Inuvik, N.W.T.

A three-member panel comprised of members of the YCA held a hearing Saturday morning at Sport Yukon to address the appeal. Thirteen people attended, including the entire Young rink and several parents.

In a media release published three hours after the hearing, the YCA explained its reason for dismissal as follows: "Coaches and teams are permitted to play and practice on club ice up to the time the ice has been taken over for a competition, or such time as established by the competition committee for that event.鈥�

Pat Malloy, championship director for the YCA and chair of the appeals committee, said the decisions made by the board and officials were "fair and equitable to all the athletes competing鈥� in the championship.

"The two teams that won the event did so on an even field of play, and have earned the right to represent the Yukon at the national championship,鈥� Malloy said.

Cressman explained his appeal was not meant to be an attack of coach Scoffin or Team Young.

"I'm not looking for this team not to go to the nationals. That's not what this is about,鈥� Cressman told the panel during the hearing.

Instead, Cressman pointed his concerns at the territory's curling association, believing that the playdowns should have been postponed due to factors such as temperatures too cold to travel in, and poor ice conditions in Teslin.

"I stand by what I wrote,鈥� Cressman told the panel. "I had a lot of questions I felt needed to be addressed.鈥�

When Team Nerysoo arrived in Teslin Friday night, their half-hour practice time was cut into when an ice-scraping machine needed to be removed from the lanes.

"The ice was not pebbled,鈥� Cressman added. "So the whole idea of a practice was a waste of time.鈥�

Then Saturday's game schedule was delayed because the temperature of the ice was labeled too cold to curl.

The first game scheduled for 10 a.m. was eventually pushed back to 12:15 p.m., but because the rescheduled draw time wasn't immediately announced, Cressman became concerned with his athletes playing so soon after lunch.

In the second game, Cressman accused skip Young of crossing the hog line on a shot that gave his team a steal of one, pushing the score to 8-2. His complaints were denied by the on-ice official, however.

Cressman said his team was lying three at the time, and Young's rock should have been burned, which would have made the score a "much different鈥� 7-5.

"The whole championships from the start were a mess, in my opinion,鈥� Cressman summarized. "I've never experienced such a disorganized event. I just don't feel the Yukon Curling Association did a good job of making this a good experience for all four teams.鈥�

Cressman said his young rink left their first territorial playdown experience feeling disillusioned.

"They are a new team and trying to find their way. My guys were discussing on the way home why would they go back to these championships again?鈥� he said. "They didn't get a fair shake to show what they could do.鈥�

Scoffin responded to Cressman's concerns, explaining that small curling communities often result in individuals filling multiple roles.

He said he visited Teslin's new recreational programmer Katherine Sheepway prior to the championship on business, where the two spoke for 45 minutes.

Scoffin said he did take the opportunity to teach Sheepway "how to throw a curling rock,鈥� throwing four rocks on the middle sheet of ice. Sheepway threw six.

Prior to the championship, Scoffin informed both teams that the ice was "heavy,鈥� which raised the ire of Cressman, who felt Scoffin received an "unfair advantage鈥� by testing the ice prior to the championship.

YCA community development director Laura Eby took exception to Cressman's comments at the hearing, which lasted one hour.

"With all due respect, I think if Wade was trying to one-up (Team Nerysoo), he wouldn't have shared that information before the competition,鈥� she said.

Scoffin said he was simply trying to provide a reference point for the competitors, because the ice was a little heavier than typical conditions at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

He reminded the panel that Cressman did not have his curling coach certification, and said he would be "more than eager鈥� to help his rival learn the technical side of the game in the future.

Longtime mates Young and Mahoney, both 20, also responded to Cressman's comments at the hearing.

"I don't believe we had any more edge,鈥� Young said. "We went out there and played with the same rocks on the same ice.鈥�

Mahoney added that prior to the 2011 national championships in Calgary, Alta., participating curlers were encouraged to spend as much time practicing as possible on the ice prior to the playdowns.

With the appeal now settled, Team Young is now free to focus on the 2013 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships, scheduled to take place Jan. 31 to Feb. 10.

Second Joe Wallingham and lead Spencer Wallace will attend the championship for the first time.