Rick Stiebel – Sooke News Mirror
Local players are aiming to put their best foot forward at a couple of major horseshoe tournaments.
Twelve members of the Sooke Horseshoe Club, including three from Sooke, are in Saskatoon competing in the Canadian national championship, while three other members are in Kamloops for the B.C. Senior championship, said Chantal Wilson, president of the Sooke Horseshoe Club for the past two years.
Sooke resident Olivia Hollinger is competing in the women’s division in Saskatoon. “She’s off to a great start with four wins in her first five games,” said Wilson, who has been playing horseshoes for 10 years, the past two competitively.
Hollinger’s daughter Sharice, 11, is playing in the pee wee division for players under 12 years old, while Clarice Quoquat, a fifteen-year-old from Sooke, is competing as a junior.
“I’m so proud to see three players from our club at the Canadians,” Wilson said.
The two younger competitors are grand-children of Tom Bligh, and Olivia Hollinger is his daughter-in-law. Bligh was an avid horseshoe player and a “very well-respected” member of the community, she noted.
“Olivia and the girls are following in Tom’s footsteps,” Wilson said. “The family is continuing the great tradition Tom established.”
Steve Bishop and his wife, Gail, both members of the Sooke Horseshoe Club, will be in Kamloops on Sept. 1-2 for the Horseshoe Association B.C. Championships, which will take place at the Kamloops Horseshoe Club.
Another club member, Ron Boroski, will compete in the men’s 40 ft. event.
Wilson said the popularity of horseshoes is on the rise and the Sooke Club is up to 28 members.
She welcomes anyone interested in finding out more about the game to drop by the pitch on Sooke River Road across from Fred Milne Park any Tuesday or Saturday at 10 a.m. For more information contact chantalw@shaw.ca.