History of Bridgewater Junior (Schoolboy) Curling
Compiled by Glenn Josephson, 1992
School curling in Canada was given a boost in the late 1940’s with the support of Ken Watson of Brier fame. The first Canadian Schoolboy Curling Championships were held in 1950, with the original prize being the Victor Sifton Trophy. It was won by Saskatchewan. Pepsi-Cola (Canada) Ltd. became official sponsor in 1958, and today, they are the longest serving sponsor in curling. Bridgewater High School (known as F. R. Davis Memorial High in those days) first competed in the 1951-52 Nova Scotia playdowns. Bridgewater Curling Club first hosted the provincial playdowns in 1952-53. The coach-teacher in these days was Mr. D. Tozer. Competitive school curling made an upswing in Bridgewater with the arrival of Mr. Bill Campbell Sr. in the mid fifties. Bill was employed at Acadia Construction and the company permitted him to leave work at 4:00 pm to look after the fledgling program at the Curling Club. After a few years, Bill had as many as 100 curlers involved. Obviously, this created lots of competition, and the F. R. Davis boys made great strides at what was known provincially as the “Headmasters”. The first provincial championship won by Bridgewater was in 1959 in New Glasgow by the Wayne Rhodenizer skipped rink, with support from Sheldon Wamboldt, George Hall and Kelvin Ogilvie. They posted a 3–7 record in Calgary. Wayne continued a family winning tradition, since his dad, Lee, competed in 3 Briers. George Hall is still a force in competitive curling as a skip in the tough Mayflower club. Dr. Kelvin Ogilvie chose an academic route after high school and is now vice president (academic) at Acadia University. The floodgates opened in the early 1960’s. Under the tutelage of Bill Campbell, it became tougher in some years to qualify out of Bridgewater than to win the province! Some great curlers were bred by this local competitiveness. Dick Rafuse won twice, in 1962 and 1963. His mates in 1962 were Barrie Simmons, John Drummond and Loran Seamone. This group played the nationals in Halifax, where they were 5–5. From this team, Barrie Simmons went on to a stellar career in men’s curling, reaching the semi-finals of the British Consul twice and the finals in 1969, where he lost in sudden death to his old nemesis, Peter Hope. Incidentally, Barrie’s mate was his dad, Ralph, himself a 3 time Brier representative. Dick Rafuse’s combination in 1963 consisted of fellow returnee Loran Seamone, Doug Harrington and John Reid. They advanced to Guelph, Ontario where they posted a fine 7-3 record and a third place finish. Stuart Campbell, Bill Campbell Sr.’s second son, skipped his rink of now 3 time rep. Loran Seamone, Bob Feindel and Brian Gibson to an undefeated run at the provincials in 1965. The Dominion Championship was held at Fredericton. This team went into the final day at 7-1, only to lose their last 2 games to Northern Ontario and Alberta, ending with a third place finish. Loran Seamone is still the only boy to represent Bridgewater 3 times in the Canadian Championship. Brian Gibson has also gone on to a fine career in men’s curling, and who can forget that missed guard by skip Dick Boyce in the 1979 Console in Bridgewater, with Brian looking on as the helpless third! Bill Campbell Sr. left to work in Halifax but his legacy carried on, as a group of teachers from the high school, headed by Mr. Jim Olmstead and Mr. George Lowe, supervised play. Bill continued as the provincial representative. It only took 2 more years to produce another winner. The hard hitting foursome of Charles Rafuse, Richard (never missed a hit) Gow, Gary Rhodenizer and John Brady breezed to the Dominion in Flin Flon, Manitoba, defeating soon to be Brier great Jackie MacDuff in the provincial final. Charles’ team, like Stuart’s, went into the last day at 7-1, but again dropped their final games to finish at 7-3. In their final game against Stan Trout of Alberta, the eventual winner, they blanked the first seven ends, only to lose 3-1. Mr. George Lowe accompanied the boys on their trip. Lead John Brady was chosen as an All Star. John Brady then became skip the following year. In 1969, he led Charles O’Neil, Chris Jones and Jim Richardson to victory at the provincial playdowns. Along with coach Jim Pamenter, they advanced to North Battleford, Saskatchewan where they posted a 4-6 record. John is still one of the top skips in Nova Scotia. In 1989, he came within 1/16th of an inch of going to the Brier. Ragnar Kamp’s final rock of the 11th end just barely nicked the shot rock. Kamp went on to record an open hit to win the first and only double extra end Tankard Final. Charles and Jim have both gone on to play on some of Nova Scotia’s finest teams, although neither of them are curling this year. The seventies produced some lean years, although some of Bridgewater Curling Club’s greatest curlers were produced during that time. One late bloomer was Brian Rafuse. Brian did not even skip in high school. He played mate on a team skipped by Dave Slauenwhite which reached the semi finals in 1973. Ironically, they were also playing in the branch junior (with Charles Rafuse, Brian’s older brother) and had to forfeit the sudden death final in order to continue in the Pepsi Junior. They lost that semi final to eventual winner Bill Campbell Jr. thus continuing the Bridgewater connection! Brian has gone on to skip Nova Scotia twice at the Canadian Mixed and has skipped 3 runners up in the Provincial Men’s Championships. Other 1970’s juniors include Brad Fleet, who won the Youthspiel in 1977, and Neil Powers, who has gone on to become one of Nova Scotia’s top coaches. The program also produced Wade Blanchard, who has skipped New Brunswick in the Brier. It was during the 1970’s that high school curling was eliminated in favour of age grouping. Part of the reason for this was to keep in line with the World Body, which had begun the Uniroyal World Championships. An age limit only restriction applied, so the Canadian Schoolboy became known as the Pepsi Junior in 1973, allowing any boy under the age of 19 before July 1st of the year of the playdowns to participate. This therefore allowed university students or those in the workforce to continue to participate. With a Lunenburg connection, the team of John Harlow, Dwight Whynot and John Linehan finally brought Bridgewater Curling Club back into the winner’s circle. With the help of outstanding teacher Douglas Burke, they represented Nova Scotia in 1980 in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. They posted a 3-8 record. Both Bruce Saunders and Dwight Whynot are continuing their competitive careers, in Lunenburg and Kentville respectively.
Another six years was to pass before coach Neil Powers brought the team of Jeff Hopkins, Gordon Hopkins, Graham Hopkins and David Craft to victory in Truro. They advanced to Red Deer, Alberta where they finished up with a 4-7 record. Jeff is still very active and successful in men’s curling. He has skipped 2 winners in the Branch Junior, as well as the runner up team in last year’s Provincial Mixed. Gordon and Graham Hopkins have only recently returned to competitive curling in Bridgewater. Coach Neil Powers played third on one of Jeff Branch’s Junior winners, and presently chairs the very active coaching staff here in Bridgewater.
B.C.C.’s fortunes remain on the upswing in Junior Curling as they continue to produce strong teams. A deep coaching base is mainly responsible for their successes, both past and present!
