Rosetown bowlers win silver, bronze at Winter Games

By David McIver

Rosetown bowlers returned home with silver and bronze medals from the Saskatchewan Winter Games.

Lucy Still, 11, bowled on the Rivers West girls team that won silver medals, while Josh Heimbecker, 14, competed on the Rivers West boys team that captured bronze.

Incomplete results for the boys were published in the Feb. 24 issue. Rivers West went on from a semifinal loss to Lakeland to defeat Saskatoon in the bronze-medal game.

The Rivers West girls bowling team won silver medals at the Saskatchewan Winter Games held in Meadow Lake on Feb. 16-18. Shown from right to left are Lucy Still of Rosetown, Hayden Wolfe of Lloydminster, Nathalia Sinclair of Lloydminster, Eve Letwinetz of Lashburn and Jaedyn Rozka of Lloydminster. Photo submitted by Jennifer Heimbecker

Josh Heimbecker (R, back) poses with the rest of the Rivers West boys bowling team who won bronze medals at the Saskatchewan Winter Games: next to him, Xander Hébert, Dominic Raschke, coach Mat Harrabek, (front, L) Hunter Harrabek and Peter Olson, all from Biggar. Photo submitted by Jennifer Heimbecker

In singles competition, Still placed 18th among 40 girls. Heimbecker finished seventh among 11 boys.

Also taking part was Jennifer Heimbecker, coach of the girls team and mother of Josh.

The Winter Games atmosphere “felt really different” from other bowling competitions, Josh said.

“It differs in how loud you have to be, how quiet you have to be, cheering on your team the whole time,” he said.

It was a “way better” bowling experience, he added.

“I don’t ever spend half a week or more bowling. It was fun and I want to do it again. Sadly I can’t,” Josh said, referring to the age restriction.

Jennifer Heimbecker said the boys developed strong chemistry.

“The team was building together. They were all working together. They were all comfortable with bowling together,” she said.

Most of the boys had known each other since they were young. Three players from Lloydminster were familiar with one another beforehand. Josh knew his teammates from growing up in Biggar, she said.

The girls team members came from across the Rivers West zone.

“They were kind of spread around the different areas of our zone,” she said. “They all worked out really good and they all came together and they all had a lot of fun. That’s half the battle — getting them to bowl well together.”

The Games were a “great experience,” she added.

“The kids had so much fun, just hanging out and doing the whole Winter Games. They really enjoyed themselves. Being at these Games strikes up a big passion in them. They want to bowl. They see the potential.”

The Saskatchewan Winter Games are among the few multi-sport events in the world that include five-pin bowling. The Canada Winter Games do not feature five-pin bowling.

“So this is a really big opportunity for them to try out and do it,” she said.