History of Shuffleboard in Saskatchewan

The first Provincial body in Canada was formed in British Columbia in 1951 where Frank Brown, Bob Zeelander and Roy Lynch established the B.C. Shuffleboard Association. With over 5000 table shuffleboards in Canada and interest rising, a group comprised of Harold Winch, M.P., Bob Zeelander, Sandy Sandquist and Frank Brown worked out the rules and regulations that fall. From these beginnings the sport grew and finally in 1964 the first Canadian Championships were held in Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Canadian Shuffleboard Congress was established to set standard rules and govern over competitions to determine National Champions. Each member of the Congress is called a charter must be approved for membership at the annual meeting held in conjunction with the championships.

Saskatchewan Shuffleboard Association

Saskatchewan entered the arena in 1969 when Art Evans, Kent Conn and Al Cooper, along with a handful of other dedicated players, helped establish the Saskatchewan Shuffleboard Association (SSA) based in Regina. The purpose then and still today is to promote the game of table shuffleboard as an amateur and professional sport. Through good sportsmanship, the intent is to establish competitive players whose caliber of play could bring to Saskatchewan the honor of winning National titles.

The SSA is responsible for governing over the tournament that determines our Provincial player representatives. Once a year, the eight straightboards owned by the Association and billeted in private homes for safekeeping, are collected and assembled in a hall. Five events are held - Mixed Doubles, Men's and Women's Singles and Men's and Women's Doubles. Any resident of the Province can play if they belong to the Association (requiring only a small membership fee). The winner of each event is provided with accommodation, travel and sustenance allowance to represent our Province at the national tournament.

Each charter member is required to host the Canadian competitions, annual meeting and awards banquet. Regina is proud to be the host in the millennium. The event will be held at the Ramada Inn, October 3 - 6,2000.

League Play

Presently the SSA also handles day-to-day league activities in Regina and surrounding area. Teams consist of up to seven players who choose a location from which to play. Usually this is a local club or beverage room that has the facilities needed. The league includes an eighty-kilometer radius around the city.

League play runs from October to the end of April and is played on Tuesday evenings. On a given night a minimum of four players play a series of six games. Each team must have a minimum of one male and one female player.

Rules are strict and etiquette is similar to the game of golf where mutual respect for the concentration of a player about to make a shot, is almost sacred.

The strategy of the game is to score the maximum number of points on an end when you have last rock or conversely, give up as few as possible when you do not or perhaps seize an opportunity to "steal" points on a mistake by an opponent.

Generally there are two types of deliveries - either freehand or, from the side (commonly referred to as the "rail" using either hand depending on the angle of the shot. Most players learn to play from the rail since this delivery is usually the most accurate.

As with a sheet of curling ice, a player must learn to read the hooks or breaks in a board and where to deliver a rock to complete a given shot. It is this talent, along with the ability to judge weight and deliver accurately that gives a player the consistency necessary to become better.