2019 Alberta Boccia Championships

We think some thank you's are in order!

First of all, a standing ovation thank you to Adriana Guzman for the time and effort she put in to making the 4th Annual Alberta Boccia Championships a huge success.

Special thanks also go to Adam Dukovich and Krista Gagne for being our technical delegate and support, our classifiers and head referee, Frannie, Kathy, Doreen and Donna who came all the way from BC to make this tournament possible. Also, we couldn't have done it without our referees, Tara, Derek, Robert, and Arden and our wonderful Edmonton volunteers. Thank you to Crestwood Curling Club for helping with the event, catering some truly stellar meals and being such wonderful hosts. And of course, thank you to everyone that participated in the event - especially the out of town guests that made the trip to Edmonton for the weekend from Medicine Hat, and Strathmore.

A total of 8 athletes entered the doors of Crestwood Curling Club on Saturday morning to don ball holders, eat french fries and throw some boccia balls! Of note was the surprise performance of team Strathmore, consisting of Scott, Rennie, and Emily new challengers at the tournament. Under the watchful eye of their coach, they exceeded all expectations by throwing their way into the finals.

This set the stage for an epic finale between the Scott Pagenkopf (Strathmore) vs. Mackenzie Kehler (Medicine Hat) and Aiden White (Medicine Hat) vs. Ryan Rondeau (Edmonton) in the semi-finals. Scott scored a win in a very close game against Mackenzie, and Aiden, the 3 time defending champion of the provincial tournament went toe to toe against Ryan, exchanging strikes to the bitter end. Honorable mention to Ryan's son who came on to court to help pick up the balls - giving his dad a near heart attack.

Alas, Aiden fought to defend his title and was able to eke out a well deserved victory, claiming Gold. Ryan Rondeau claimed Silver, and Scott Pagenkopf came in with Bronze. Congratulations!