Still chasing the buffalo

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This article was published 24/03/2015 (4106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Howard Restall has been curling for over 50 years, but it’s still as big a thrill as it ever was to earn the “buffalo” and represent Manitoba at the national level.

“Anytime you can win what we call a ‘buffalo,’ that’s a thrill,” Restall said from his North Kildonan home last week. “That’s anyone’s goal.”

Restall should know, as he’s won a few in his day. And he’ll be wearing another one next week in Whitehorse, when he and Team Westcott will be representing Manitoba at the Canadian Masters Championship held March 30 to April 5. Restall is hoping to make use of his past experience to bring home a national title to Team Westcott’s home rink at the Fort Rouge Curling Club (750 Daly St. S).

In 1990, he won a provincial mixed championship. In 1991, he went to the Briar, as a fifth on Jeff Stoughton’s team.

“It was eye-opening, and quite the experience being behind the ropes of a major event like the Briar.”

Restall turned 50 in 2005, making him eligible to compete in seniors’ curling.

“The team I was on, we happened to win both 2005 and 2006 seniors finals,” Restall said. However, he added, “We didn’t do too well at the Canadian finals. I would have liked to have done a little better.”

Following those two runs at the national seniors’ title, Restall started to slow down on his competitive curling, which up to that point had taken up “four or five nights” a week. At the time, some friends from Minneapolis called Restall up, to see if he’d be interested in coaching their grand-daughters.

“I decided it was probably the thing to do,” Restall said. “To give some thing back to the game that I’ve enjoyed so much and had so much success with.”

Restall got himself certified, and made frequent trips down to the Twin Cities, volunteering his time. By 2009, the rink he was coaching represented Team USA at the world junior curling championships in Vancouver. In 2010, his Team USA took home the bronze medal at the world juniors in Switzerland.

“You coach because you love the game,” said Restall, who fell in love with the game as a nine-year-old.

A chance encounter with a broom at the Rossmere Country Club was enough to convince young Howie to quit stopping pucks and start hurrying hard.

“My feet didn’t freeze,” Restall recalled with a chuckle. “I says, ‘This is for me!’

“Back when I was young there was no coaching,” Restall added. “But I was lucky enough that when I was young there were some nice guys at Rossmere who were nice enough to let me sit down with them and talk strategy with them and different curling experiences. In essence, they were my coaches. They weren’t certified, but they knew the game.”

And while Restall, as a coach and player, admires the way curling has improved as a competitive game over the years, he is fearful that the sport may be losing the strong social aspect that made it so popular in communities across Canada in the first place.

“Curling clubs are made up of social curlers,” he said. “Some curling clubs are suffering because some people are hesitant to get into the game. They see the guys on TV and they think they need to be like them. They don’t. There’s so many different levels of competition skills, people can come out and curl at any level and have fun.

“The beautiful part about the game of curling,” Restall continued with a smile, “Is you can start playing little rocks when you’re six years old, and you can play it till you’re 80. There’s no stopping.”

Now 60 years old, Restall had an opportunity to compete this year in masters curling. As it turned out, there was an opening among some familiar faces on a competitive team out of Fort Rouge.

“The skip is Ron Westcott,” Restall explained. “I’ve played with Ronny now for nine years.”
Rounding out the rink are Ken Dusablon and Bob Boughey.

Restall and the rest of Team Westcott are throwing a “Send-Off Reception” fundraiser at the Fort Rouge Curling Club on Thur., March 26 from 7 to 10 p.m. to help cover the costs of travel, accommodations, and competing in the Canadian Masters Canadian Championship in Whitehorse, Yukon.

sheldon.birnie@canstarnews.com

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