About our team

It's only a few more days until we're on the plane heading to Richmond, BC for the The Dominion Curling Club Championship! We're going to be blogging while we're there, keeping anyone who's interested up-to-date on the event and our experience while we're there, both on and off the ice. With this first blog entry I thought I would introduce our team. We are Greg Balsdon (skip), Jordan Keon (third), Curtis Samoy (second) and Kevin Roberts (lead), and we curl in the Monday Men's League at the Richmond Hill Curling Club in Richmond Hill, Ontario. We won the 2011 Ontario Championship for The Dominion and are all looking forward to representing the red, white and black at the Canadian Championships! This is the first time wearing the provincials uniforms for all 4 of us.

To begin, I'll point you to Team of the Week - The Ontario Men's Team from The Dominion Curling Club Championship Facebook page. It has some notes about us and our team photo after winning the Ontario provincial final. I especially like the quick story of how our team was formed (courtesy of our second, Curtis)! Let me give a few more details on that. Curtis and Jordan had been curling together in Men's club curling for several years. Prior to the 2009/10 curling season, their skip (Mike Maddin) and lead (Trevor Talbott) both decided to take the year off so they were looking for a couple of players. They knew Kevin Roberts was "the nicest guy in the club" (and coincidentally was also looking for a team) so he signed on to play lead. Greg had moved a few blocks from the curling club that summer and was looking to curl at the club, so it was good timing that lead him to take over at skip.

We've been curling together for over 2 years now and the team gets along well both on and off the ice. We've managed to win the Richmond Hill Curling Club Championship for the past two season. Our team also won the Toronto Curling Association Goldline TCA Men's Bonspiel last year. That was a big relief for Jordan and Curtis, who had lost the final game in the bonspiel 2 of the previous 4 years. During the summer months we play slo-pitch in a coed league. Jordan's the player/coach, Kevin's the pitcher, Curtis took this summer off and Greg took his place as the star left fielder. We don't have as much success on the ball diamond as we do on the ice!

After winning the 2011 Goldline TCA Men's Bonspiel

Team Members

Greg's double arm back swing!

Greg Balsdon: Greg is the team skip and the most noted curler on the team. He is the one competitive and club curler on our team, as defined in The Dominion eligibility rules (more on that in another blog). His other curling accomplishments include runner-up at the 2011 Ontario Men's Tankard, several victories on the OCT and Youth Provincials Championships. Greg is a Golf Pro and lives in Richmond Hill with his fiancee, Amy. Greg runs the Monday Men's League at the Richmond Hill Curling Club.

Jordan in the house

Jordan Keon: Jordan started curling in university and immediately fell in love with the game. His other curling accomplishments include twice winning the Toronto Curling Associate Mixed Bonspiel in 2006 with his wife, Caitlin, and Ryan & Jen Werenich and again in 2010 with Ryan & Jen and Jayne Flinn Burton (Caitlin was pregnant at the time) and winning the 2010 OCT Minor Cashspiel. Jordan is a software architect and lives in Aurora with his wife and two boys, Fionn and Maddox. Jordan runs the Tuesday Mixed League at the Richmond Hill Curling Club.

Greg & Curtis at the RHCC Shillelagh

Curtis Samoy: Curtis is the youngest player on the team. His other curling accomplishments include winning the 2010 OCT Minor Cashspiel. Curtis is a Systems Developer at Morneau Shepell and lives in Toronto with his girlfriend, Jackie. Curtis ran the Monday Men's League at the Richmond Hill Curling Club prior to Greg taking over this season.

Kevin (far left) with a big smile at the RHCC Shillelagh

Kevin Roberts: Kevin is the oldest player on the team, and he's the perfect lead: he always puts his rock in the top 4 and never complains about carrying the broom bag or buying the beer! His other curling accomplishments representing Texas at the USA National Championship. Kevin works in sales for Pepsi and currently lives in Unionville. Kevin is marrying his fiancee, Tiffany in 2011.


That's all for now,
-Jordan