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Due to COVID 19 and the limitations on interprovincial travel and gathering of large numbers of people, the 2021 Annual Friars’ Briar Bonspiel will be held ONLINE. Social gatherings, business meetings and organizational gatherings will take place on ZOOM. Curling competition will be through an online curling game, for those who wish to participate in play.
There will be online curling competition on an individual basis (though individuals are allowed to have an alternate/coach on their team but must share one account/nickname during the bonspiel.) Curling competition will be held in Room 3, on www.playcurling.com. Registration must be completed by February 21, 2021 to allow for draw schedules to be made and address technical issues. Participants must start a free (or paid subscription) account at www.playcurling.com in order to register for the bonspiel and participate in the chat feature. (Instructions are available from the registrar.) If curlers are unfamiliar with the online game, they are encouraged to register their account early and practice/play for a few weeks before the competition.
Players will play as individuals rather than on teams. Competition will include a Heavenly Host (East/West) competition. Pools will be established for Round Robin Play and a Playoff schedule for the championship round will be made from the top sixteen players. Other play-off rounds will be structured around the number of players participating. Spectators are welcome at all online games.
Round Robin games will begin Monday morning, March 8, and should be completed by Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. PT (8:00 p.m. ET). The schedule allows flexibility, but it is essential to keep the flow of play going so there is not a backlog of games to play at the end of the day and so people in the Eastern Time Zone don’t have to be playing late at night. When players mutually agree on a game time, the draw-master should be notified so the time can be posted, and spectators may join. Once a player completes all of their Round Robin Games, they are welcome to play games for fun against other Friars’ who have completed all of their Round Robin Games. The play-off round will be scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
In order to keep the event manageable, the decision was made to play individuals vs.
individuals as opposed to teams vs. teams. We will continue the ‘East/West’ Heavenly Host
award.
Register first at: www.playcurling.com Curlers must create an account with
www.playcurling.com prior to Briar registration. You can create a free account. You can also
create a paid account (yearly/monthly). It is your choice. Instructions for creating the account
are below.
Register second at: 2021 Online Friars Briar Registration
Registrations will close on Sunday, February 21, 2021.
Follow-up information including online links will be sent to all registrants before the start of the
Briar. If you would like to participate as a spectator. Please let the BC host group know of your
interest so that you also get sent the links.
Players meet in Waiting Room 3, at a time agreed to by both parties. One player issues a challenge to the other. The game chooses who has the hammer. Players play a four-end game following all the usual rules including the Five-Rock Free Guard Zone rule. Note that all games are played by the clock. Thinking time for each shot consists of 15 seconds plus an additional 2 minutes per end. Altogether that is a total of 4 minutes per player per end for thinking time.
This means that a four-end game will not exceed thirty-two minutes. Note, that if a player runs out their clock, they will lose their shot, but they will still have 15 seconds for any subsequent shots.
To shoot, use your mouse (or touch pad) to hold the broom in the desired place. Check to make sure the turn on the rock is correct and change it if necessary, with the button at the bottom of the screen. When ready to shoot hold the mouse button (pad) down until the desired amount of weight is applied. You can judge the weight when the coloured power indicator appears. (blue/green for guard; green for draw; yellow for hack weight; orange for board weight; red for take-out… approximately). To sweep a rock hold down your mouse button and wiggle the mouse back and forth anywhere on the ice surface. If in doubt, use the help feature found with a ‘?’ button. If you still have questions, please contact David Hunter for assistance.
