Curling: Bonspiels staged to mark 125th anniversary

It was fitting that life member Stewart McKnight should play in the New Zealand Curling Association's 125th anniversary bonspiel yesterday.

He has been playing the sport for 59 years.

McKnight (76) joined the Blackstone Hill Curling Club in 1952 and played in his first bonspiel the following year.

"It was just something we did in the Maniototo," McKnight said. "My family always curled and I just carried on the tradition."

His grandfather, James McKnight, was a founding member of the Blackstone Hill Curling Club in 1885.

James McKnight was also a founding member of the New Zealand Curling Association in 1886. It is the oldest national sporting organisation in New Zealand.

The Baxter Cup tournament, first held in 1875, is the oldest national competition for any New Zealand sporting organisation.

Stewart McKnight is a notable Otago sporting personality and is a life member of the Otago Cricket Association and the Otago Rugby Football Union.

He played Plunket Shield cricket for Otago and was a talented Maniototo rugby player.

He was a member of the first New Zealand curling team that competed at the Pacific championships in Tokyo in 1991 and was a national selector for 10 years. McKnight demonstrated his skills as skip of the Blackstone Hill team that was in winning form at the bonspiel at the Dunedin Ice Stadium yesterday. Bonspiels were also held in Gore, Alexandra and Naseby to celebrate the anniversary.

The 125th anniversary dinner was held at the Maniototo Stadium in Ranfurly last night.

The Blackstone Hill Curling Club was the fourth to be established in New Zealand. There are 35 curling clubs in the country today.

The crampit style is the traditional type of curling in New Zealand and is still used at bonspiels on iced dams and lakes.

When New Zealand entered the international arena it had to change its style and the hack, or sliding, style is used at the indoor arenas.

The proudest moment for McKnight came when the New Zealand men's team competed at the Winter Olympic Games in Italy in 2006.

"That was a big plus and developed from the international curling rinks built at Naseby and Dunedin," McKnight said. "It has given our younger players the opportunity to travel around the world."

Hard work from McKnight's Maniototo community led to the building of the rink at Naseby valued at $2 million. The Dunedin Ice Stadium is worth $5 million.

Twenty-eight teams and 112 curlers competed in the two-day 125th anniversary bonspiel.