Jeannie Borland Memorial Friendly Bonspiel - Mayfield

The Jeannie Borland Memorial Friendly Bonspiel (aka “The Jeannie Spiel”) will be played this season at the Bowling Green Curling Club on Saturday and Sunday, January 20-21, 2024.  The spiel will consist of 16 curlers from the Bowling Green club competing both with and against 16 curlers from the Mayfield Curling Club in Warrensville Heights, OH (suburb on the southeast side of Cleveland).

The purpose of The Jeannie Spiel is to promote friendship and comradery between the Bowling Green and Mayfield clubs; Jeannie was an active and competitive member of each club for many years.  Also, the event will raise both awareness and funding for the Jeannie Borland Memorial Fund, administered by the US Women’s Curling Association (USWCA) and used to promote introductory junior curling across the US at the grass roots level.  Jeannie felt strongly about the need to recruit and facilitate new curlers (she was in charge of USWCA’s 5-and-under championships for many years), and our event will help to further her legacy.

The event will start on Saturday afternoon with two “friendly” 6-end games in which Bowling Green curlers will be paired with Mayfield curlers for a fun afternoon of comradery and gamesmanship.  The “Broom of Destiny” and the “Hat of Despair” (the latter in lieu of “penalty shots”) will be awarded (probably multiple times) during these games to deserving participants.  Following curling on Saturday, there will be a dinner at the club for both curlers and social participants.

Sunday morning will feature the main attraction: four 8-end games of Bowling Green curlers versus Mayfield curlers.  The winning club, determined by the total points scored during those four games, will be awarded the prestigious Jeannie Borland memorial trophy, which will be retained by the winning club for a year (Mayfield currently maintains possession of the trophy after winning the inaugural event last year).  Some of Jeannie’s children and grandchildren will likely be on hand Sunday morning for the trophy presentation.

The Bowling Green curlers will be captained by Martha Mazzarella, while the Mayfield contingent will be under the leadership of Cheryl Drake, both of whom were good friends of Jeannie’s and participated with her in many USWCA events and activities.

A silent auction and a 50/50 raffle will also be held, with proceeds going to the USWCA Jeannie fund.

Participation is limited to 16 curlers and 10 social participants from each club.  Social participants may act as curling substitutes as needed.  Cost is $50 for curlers, and $30 for social participants.

Lodging information can be found HERE