news archive
2015-16
Des Coleman
April 2016
Des Coleman
It is with sadness that we note the passing of Desmond Coleman on April 2nd.
Des was a Nairn Curling Club member from 1977 until 2010, and the Club's President from 1988 until 1990.
Des attended the last Past Presidents' Lunch in December 2015, and as usual his subtle sense of humour
added to a convivial afternoon. The Club's condolences go to his family at this time.
March 2016
Millennium Trophy 2015-16
WINNERS :
Alistair Mackay, Bill Geddes, Dan Torok and Ally Tunstall
Match Cup Report
The Club's Match Cup singles competition took place at the Inverness Ice Centre on March 11th. After some close competition, Seamus McArdle emerged victorious, beating Dean Clark 2 - 1 in the final.
Seamus is one of the Club's most enthusiastic members, and the victory is well deserved. March is proving to be a great month for Seamus - see the earlier news item further down the page!
Pictured - The Match Cup is presented by Club Secretary Ally Tunstall -
March 2016
Sandy Gunn League Winners
WINNERS ;
L toR: Neil Pottie, Alistair Cruickshank, Seamus McArdle, Rick Stewart.
March 2016
"Oldies" Double
Friday morning curling is for those of a certain age. Happily, (or unhappily, depending on your point of view) the average age of Nairn Curling Club is on the high side, and so the Club has been able to enter a rink in both the Seniors (over 50's) league, and the Masters (over 60's) leagues at the Inverness Ice Centre.
This year the Nairn rinks managed to top both leagues. The competitions are generously sponsored by Gordon & McPhail, and are organised by Innes Rankin who is already canvassing for entries for the 2016-17 season. (Contact through Inverness Ice Centre).
Pictured are the winners with trophies and prizes
March 2016
Granada Cup (Mixed Doubles)
This is the first season that this trophy has been competed for in a Mixed Doubles Competition. The Cup has been presented to the Club by the heroic quartet who returned with it as runners-up in the test event competition for the FISU Winter Games, held in Granada, Spain. (Must be a record for the furthest south game in Europe played by a Scottish rink).
The competition in this novel form has been well supported. In a close final, the Clarks (Hamish & Moira) pipped the Ashers (Ali & Gill) 5 shots to 4.
Club President, Hamish Bunker (right), presents the trophy to the winners.
March 2016
Wheelchair Bronze
Congratulations go to Nairn Curling Club's Seamus McArdle for achieving bronze medal position in the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championships held at The Peak, Stirling from 2nd to the 4th of March.
Seamus was playing third to Aberdeen's Reg Craig, along with San Cowan (Lockerbie) and Alison Cloudsley (Braehead). The team lost in the semi-final to the eventual winners, but managed to beat the 2014 champion, Alex Harvey 5-3 in the play off for bronze.
The winning rink, skipped by Jim Sellars from Bellshill, contained two members of the Moray Curling Club, Gregor Ewan and Jim Gault.
March 2016
Moray Province Successes
The final of the Moray Province Open Knock-out competition was played on the 4th of February, and was won by the Nairn rink of Stewart Morrison, Dionne Clark, Hamish Clark and Skip Dean Clark.
In the Moray Province (West) Leagues Nairn have swept the boards for the 2015-16 Season, topping all three divisions. Ali Asher, along with Ross Cope, Colin MacGregor and Robbie Cope managed to wrest the Division One championship from Ardclach. Mike McInnes won Division Two, and Jamie Catell won Division Three.
December 2016
Past Presidents Lunch 2015
The Club's biennial Past Presidents' lunch took place on the 29th December 2015 in the Nairn Golf Club. The current president, Hamish Bunker hosted a turnout of fifteen out of a possible nineteen previous incumbents.
Des Coleman made the effort to come from Beauly, and Alistair Adam interrupted his convalescence to put in a brief appearance.
This unique gathering spanned very nearly half of the Club's existence since its foundation in 1907. Each attendee had helped shape the Club and its traditions into the body it is now.
In proposing a vote of thanks at the conclusion of the convivial gathering, Alistair Mackintosh pointed out that while some of the company were no longer actively involved in the Club, their thoughts were never far from its activities.
December 2015
The Points 2015-16
The competition for the Club's oldest trophy, the Whitelaw Kettle, took place at Inverness Ice Centre on Friday 11th December.
The result was a tie - 40 points each - between two of the Club's more experienced members, Hamish Clark and Alan Stanfield.
There was insufficient time to play a deciding Outwicking exercise, or the usual "Draw to the Bottle " competition. The latter will be played at a later date on a Sand Gunn League evening.
Congratulations go to Bob Ferenth who won the Handicap Competition.
Bob Ferenth, Hamish Clark, Alan Stanfield
November 2015
National Award for Nairn Member
Alan Stanfield has been named "Technical Official of The Year" by Sport Scotland. This is an outstanding achievement - being chosen from many officials covering twenty different sports.
Alan Cut his teeth in officiating when he played in the Sandy Gunn Leaugue some twenty-five years ago. He over-hauled the competition rules, then the Club Constitution. Once started, there was no stopping and he proceeded to bring the Rules and Constitution of Moray Province up to scratch.
Aspiring to International Greatness, he volunteered as a hog line observer in far flung places in Finland and Bulgaria. This mind-numbing duty has since been replaced by electronic handles, but the experience gave Alan an insight into umpiring which was to culminate in his appointment as Deputy Chief at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, and Chief at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
In Scotland he has worked hard to improve the standard of umpiring. From the days of blue-blazered old duffers, Scotland has progressed to producing officials who are in demand at international events. Much of this is due to an Umpire Development Structure led by Alan.
Alan was unable to receive his award in person at the ceremony in Glasgow City Chambers as he was officiating as Chief Umpire at the European Curling Championships in Esbjerg, Denmark - one of the biggest curling competitions in the world. However, his fellow officials made sure he missed none of the excitement by holding a special ceremony of their own!
Nairn Curling Club is proud to have such an inspirational figure as a member.
The Royal Caledonian Club report can be read here
November 2015
2015-16 David Brown Jubilee Shield
WINNERS:
Robbie Asher (Skip), Alec Scott, Sandy Scott & Katie Millar
L to R: Sandy Scott, Robbie Asher, Katie Millar and Alex Scott
November 2015
2015 Eric Brown Bonspiel
Thanks to the efforts of Alex Scott, the annual bonspiel in memory of one of Nairn's memorable members took place at the Inverness Ice Centre on November 28th.
Once again finding enough details to prepare a comprehensive report is proving a challenge too far. The over-riding impression is that a good day was had by all. Ron Cameron hopes to be fit enough to resume playing in the early New Year.
A strong Ardclach rink of Ruaridh Greenwood, with brother Calum, Grant Fraser and Greg Stephen were winners on the day.
The Runners-up were Inverness Hospitals, skipped by Andy Wood, with Gordie Kennedy, Styart Sturrock and Sammy MacDonald.
Nairn the perfect hosts managed both prizes in the Low Road. Winners were the Match Secretary and The President, supported by Ian Hutcheson and Bill Young, with the Runners-up being Neil Pottie, Andy Orlinski, Bob Ferenth and Danny Gray.
Highland CC were the day's "Neeps"
George 'Paparazzi' Pirie was on hand to record pictures of the day, which can be seen in the Photo Gallery here