Alberta women's curling championship

Field is so deep

Looking at the roster of the Alberta women's curling championship, one thing that stands out is how deep the field is this year. I thought a similar thing about Ontario's field where there are 4-5 strong contenders and even a couple teams after that could make a run.


The favourites in Alberta will have to include Shannon Kleibrink, Laura Crocker, Crystal Webster, Val Sweeting, Renee Sonnenberg, Casey Scheidegger, Jessie Kaufman and Lisa Eyamie. Really, it's anyone's game.

Also remember, Cheryl Bernard and Amy Nixon lost out in qualifiers. Heather Nedohin will receive an automatic berth due to her Scotties win last year. This shows that Alberta is so deep with curling talent.

Parity is a good thing. Sometimes in men's curling it seems that it's dominated by just a handful. Martin, Stoughton, Koe and Howard dominate the men's side.

Women's curling is more balanced. Some team will rise to the top. Whoever gets out of Alberta will be well-tested and have to be considered a favourite for the Scotties.

The Alberta women's championship starts today in the windy city of Lethbridge.

Here's the Alberta Scotties website: http://www.2013albertascotties.com/

Norm Cowley of the Edmonton Journal has a preview here: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/curling/Kaufman+feels+confident+heading+into+Alberta+women/7857023/story.html