Tokoro Curling Club

The Tokoro Curling Club (常呂カーリング倶楽部) is a curling club in Tokoro Town, Kitami City, Hokkaido Island, Japan. The club has about 40 teams, including a team "Loco Solare" (ロコ・ソラーレ).

Tokoro Curling Club 常呂カーリング倶楽部
Location	Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan
Arena	Advics Tokoro Curling Hall [ja] Public hall held by Kitami City 44°07′17″N 144°03′22″E / 44.12139°N 144.05611°E / 44.12139; 144.05611
Host club	Kitami Curling Association
Information
Established	May 2, 2007; 16 years ago (2007-05-02)^[1]
Club type	Nonprofit organization
Sheets of ice	6
Rock colours	Red and yellow
Website	locosolare.jp (in Japanese)

Background

Hokkaido Island, Japan and Alberta, Canada became sister province in 1980.^[2] Then, curling was introduced to Tokoro Town as an outdoor recreation while farmers could not work in winter, and has been popular sport among people in Tokoro. In 1981, lessons are held by former world champion curler Wally Ursuliak.^[3] The administration of Tokoro Town, later Kitami City, built public indoor curling facility in 1988, which is rebuilt as Advics Tokoro Curling Hall [ja] in 2013.^[4] But major sponsor does not exist in Tokoro because it is a small local town. As the result, famous curlers born in Tokoro has gone to other prefectures in Japan.

Loco Solare

Loco Solare a.k.a. LS Kitami ロコ・ソラーレ a.k.a. LS北見
We win the victory with smile ☺️
Location	Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan
Arena	Advics Tokoro Curling Hall [ja]
Host club	Tokoro Curling Club Kitami Curling Association
Information
Established	July 2010 (13 years, 9 months)
Founder(s)	Mari Motohashi
Club type	Independent and multi-sponsored
Website	locosolare.jp (in Japanese)

International medals
Women's curling
Representing Japan
Olympic Games
	2022 Beijing
	2018 Pyeongchang
World Championships
	2016 Swift Current
Pacific-Asia Championships
	2015 Almaty
	2017 Erina
	2016 Uiseong
Asian Winter Games
	2017 Sapporo

"Loco Solare" (ロコ・ソラーレ), also known as the LS Kitami (LS北見), is a women's amateur curling team established in July 2010 by Olympian curler Mari Motohashi. The team is based in, and all the members are from Kitami City. The team got bronze medals at PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.^[5]

History

Mari Motohashi, who was an Olympian at Torino 2006 and at Vancouver 2010 as a member of Team Aomori,^[6] had also been one of such curlers. She thought why curlers born in Tokoro could not stay in the town. In the Summer of 2010, she asked two former curlers once retired, Megumi Mabuchi and Akane Eda, and two student curlers Yurika Yoshida^[7] and Yumi Suzuki,^[8] to join her rink named "Loco Solare," also known as "LS Kitami." At the press conference in Tokyo on 16 August 2010, she announced leaving Japanese national representative Team Aomori to establish her own rink in Tokoro.^[9] It was hard to find big sponsor in Kitami City, but small ones increased slowly. But in September 2013, Eda left the team because she could not kept the balance of curling and her work pastry chef.^[10]

In June 2014, Sochi 2014 Olympian as alternate; Chinami Yoshida^[11] joined the team.^[12] In the season of 2014–15, the team got their first winning prize at the World Curling Tour event; Avonair Cash Spiel.^[13] In May 2015, Satsuki Fujisawa^[14] joined the team.^[12] After Fujisawa became the member, Mabuchi retired from games, but the team got medals as Japanese representative in various tournaments every year. In 2015, while Motohashi had maternity leave,^[6] Kotomi Ishizaki appeared at Pacific-Asia Championships as alternate.^[15]

Olympics

In September 2017, this amateur team won the five set match at 2017 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials against team Chiaki Matsumura.^[16][17] At PyeongChang 2018, the team got bronze medals.^[18][19]

Members

Name	Role	Joined	Left	Occupation	Born	Years curled	Throw
Mari Motohashi (本橋 麻里) ^[20]	Founder, Captain & Alternate	2010	–	Office worker	(1986-06-10) 10 June 1986 (age 37)	25^[6]	Right
Megumi Mabuchi (馬渕 恵) ^[21]	Co-founder & support staff	2010	(Retired: Mar. 2015)^[10]	Social worker	(1983-07-06) 6 July 1983 (age 40)		Right
Akane Eda (江田 茜) ^[22]	Co-founder (Left)	2010	Sep. 2013^[10]	Pastry chef	(1989-07-07) 7 July 1989 (age 34)		Right
Yurika Yoshida (吉田 夕梨花) ^[23]	Lead	2010	–	Office worker	(1993-07-07) 7 July 1993 (age 30)	25^[12]	Right
Yūmi Suzuki (鈴木 夕湖) ^[24]	Second	2010	–	Office worker	(1991-12-02) 2 December 1991 (age 32)	23^[12]	Right
Chinami Yoshida (吉田 知那美) ^[25]	Third & Vice skip	2014	–	Office worker	(1991-07-26) 26 July 1991 (age 32)	25^[12]	Right
Satsuki Fujisawa (藤澤 五月) ^[26]	Skip	2015	–	Office worker	(1991-05-24) 24 May 1991 (age 32)	27^[12]	Right
Ryoji Onodera (小野寺 亮二) ^[27]^[28]	Coach	2010	–	Farmer	(1960-12-13) 13 December 1960 (age 63)
Junichi Kaizuka (貝塚 純一)	Trainer	2010	2015	Physical therapist
Tatsuya Omori (大森 達也) ^[28]^[29]	Chief trainer	2014	–	Physical therapist & Athletic trainer	(1973-10-03) 3 October 1973 (age 50)
Rentaro Suzuki (鈴木 廉太郎) ^[28]^[30]	Trainer		–	Physical therapist & Athletic trainer	(1986-12-05) 5 December 1986 (age 37)

Team

Season	Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Alternate	National Events	YTD Ranking
2010–11	Mari Motohashi	Yurika Yoshida	Megumi Mabuchi	Akane Eda	Yumi Suzuki		—
2011–12	Mari Motohashi	Megumi Mabuchi	Yumi Suzuki	Akane Eda	Yurika Yoshida		265^[31]^[32]
2012–13	Mari Motohashi	Yurika Yoshida	Megumi Mabuchi	Yumi Suzuki	(Akane Eda)		171^[33]^[34]
2013–14	Mari Motohashi	Yurika Yoshida	Yumi Suzuki	Megumi Mabuchi			155^[35]^[36]
2014–15	Mari Motohashi	Chinami Yoshida	Yumi Suzuki	Yurika Yoshida	(Megumi Mabuchi)		52^[37]^[38]
2015–16	Satsuki Fujisawa	Chinami Yoshida	Yumi Suzuki	Yurika Yoshida	Kotomi Ishizaki	PCC^[39]	20^[15]^[40]
					Mari Motohashi	WCC^[41]
2016–17	Satsuki Fujisawa	Chinami Yoshida	Mari Motohashi	Yurika Yoshida	Yumi Suzuki	PCC^[42] AWG^[43]	32^[44]^[45]
2017–18	Satsuki Fujisawa	Chinami Yoshida	Yumi Suzuki	Yurika Yoshida	Mari Motohashi	PCC^[46] OG^[47]	11^[48]^[49]

Grand Slam record

Key
C	Champion
F	Lost in Final
SF	Lost in Semifinal
QF	Lost in Quarterfinals
R16	Lost in the round of 16
Q	Did not advance to playoffs
T2	Played in Tier 2 event
DNP	Did not participate in event
N/A	Not a Grand Slam event that season

Event	'14–15	'15–16	'16–17	'17–18
Tour Challenge	N/A	DNP	DNP	DNP
Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The National	N/A	DNP	DNP	DNP
Canadian Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Players'	DNP	DNP	DNP	QF^[50]
Champions Cup	N/A	Q^[51]	DNP	Q^[52]

Former events

Event	'14–15
Autumn Gold	Q^[53]

Other notable WCT record

World Curling Tour records other than Grand Slam.

Result	Season	Event	Reference
Winner	2014–15	Avonair Cash Spiel	^[54]
Runner-up	2015–16	International Crown of Curling	^[55]
Runner-up	2015–16	Karuizawa International	^[56]
Runner-up	2015–16	World Women's Curling Championship	^[57]
Runner-up	2016–17	International Crown of Curling	^[58]
Runner-up	2017–18	Red Deer Curling Classic	^[59]

References

1. "常呂カーリング倶楽部" [Tokoro Curling Club] (in Japanese). Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
2. "Hokkaido – Alberta Relations" (PDF). alberta.ca. Alberta, Canada.
3. "Wally Ursuliak – "Japan, Canada, and Me!"". Embassy of Japan in Canada. 25 February 2018 – via YouTube.
4. "ADVICS Tokoro Curling Hall | Kitami-shi". www.city.kitami.lg.jp.e.fu.hp.transer.com.
5. "Japan claim women's curling bronze at PyeongChang 2018". International Olympic Committee. 12 March 2018.
6. "Curling | Athlete Profile: Mari MOTOHASHI – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
7. "Curling | Athlete Profile: Yurika YOSHIDA – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
8. "Curling | Athlete Profile: Yumi SUZUKI – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
9. "Google Translate | 本橋麻里選手、故郷の常呂で再出発（17 August 2010 ）：どうしん電子版（北海道新聞）". The Hokkaido Times (in Japanese).
10. "Google Translate | ＬＳ北見創設メンバー「今もともに」７人のチーム". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 25 February 2018.
11. "Curling | Athlete Profile: Chinami YOSHIDA – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
12. "Swift Current 2016" (PDF). Eye Opener. No. 2. Curling Canada. 20 March 2016.
13. "Avonair Cash Spiel". www.curlingzone.com. 3 October 2014.
14. "Curling | Athlete Profile: Satsuki FUJISAWA – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
15. "Team Fujisawa | 2015–16". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
16. "Curling team LS Kitami wins right to represent Japan at Pyeongchang Games". Japan Times. 10 September 2017.
17. "Google Translate | ＬＳ北見、平昌五輪代表に決定！中部電力に３勝１敗／カーリング". SanSpo.com (in Japanese). Sankei Digital Inc. 10 September 2017.
18. "Curling | Team Profile: Japan – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com.
19. Ishima, Atsushi (22 March 2018). "Hokkaido city gives beloved curlers a warm welcome home：The Asahi Shimbun". The Asahi Shimbun.
20. "Personal details | Mari Motohashi". results.worldcurling.org.
21. "Personal details | Megumi Mabuchi". results.worldcurling.org.
22. "Personal details | Akane Eda". results.worldcurling.org.
23. "Personal details | Yurika Yoshida". results.worldcurling.org.
24. "Personal details | Yumi Suzuki". results.worldcurling.org.
25. "Personal details | Chinami Yoshida". results.worldcurling.org.
26. "Personal details | Satsuki Fujisawa". results.worldcurling.org.
27. . www.pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018.
28. Loco Solare. "メンバー紹介 | カーリングチーム Loco Solare（ロコ・ソラーレ/LS北見）公式サイト". www.locosolare.jp (in Japanese).
29. "大森 達也 (カーリング) – 平昌オリンピック2018 – JOC". 日本オリンピック委員会（JOC） (in Japanese).
30. "The 8th Asian Winter Games Sapporo 2017" (PDF). joc.or.jp. Japanese Olympic Committee.
31. "YTD – Season:2011–12, Week: 36". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
32. "Team Motohashi | 2011–12". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
33. "YTD – Season: 2012–13, Week: 49". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
34. "Team Motohashi | 2012–13". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
35. "YTD – Season:2013–14, Week: 36". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
36. "Team Motohashi | 2013–14". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
37. "YTD – Season: 2014–15, Week 37". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
38. "Team Motohashi | 2014–15". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
39. "Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2015". results.worldcurling.org. 14 November 2015.
40. "YTD – Season: 2015–16, Week: 38". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
41. "Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2016". results.worldcurling.org. 27 March 2016.
42. "Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2016". results.worldcurling.org. 12 November 2016.
43. "8th Asian Winter Games Sapporo 2017". results.worldcurling.org. 26 February 2017.
44. "YTD – Season: 2016–17, Week: 38". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
45. "Team Fujisawa | 2016–17". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
46. "Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2017". results.worldcurling.org. 9 November 2017.
47. "XXIII. Olympic Winter Games 2018". results.worldcurling.org. 25 February 2018.
48. "YTD – Season: 2017–2018, Week: 39". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
49. "Team Fujisawa | 2017–18". www.curlingzone.com. CurlingZone.
50. BRAZEAU, JONATHAN (14 April 2018). "Fujisawa tops Team Rocque in Players' Championship tiebreaker". www.thegrandslamofcurling.com.
51. "2016 Humpty's Champions Cup: Women's Teams". www.thegrandslamofcurling.com.
52. "2018 Humpty's Champions Cup: Women's Teams". www.thegrandslamofcurling.com.
53. "Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic". www.curlingzone.com. 13 October 2014.
54. "2014 Avonair Cash Spiel". www.curlingzone.com. 5 October 2014.
55. "Hub International Crown of Curling". www.curlingzone.com. 19 October 2015.
56. "Karuizawa International". www.curlingzone.com. 20 December 2015.
57. "Ford World Women's Curling Championship". www.curlingzone.com. 27 March 2016.
58. "Hub International Crown of Curling". www.curlingzone.com. 17 October 2016.
59. "Red Deer Curling Classic". www.curlingzone.com. 20 November 2017.

External links

• Loco Solare (ロコ・ソラーレ), a.k.a. LS Kitami (LS北見): Official site (Google Translate)
• Facebook: Team LocoSolare (Google Translate)
• NPO, Tokoro Curling Club (常呂カーリング倶楽部): Official site (Google Translate, Nonprofit organization)
• Advics Tokoro Curling Hall: Official site (Public curling hall owned by Ktami City)
• 2016 Swift Current WCC's introductory PDF (pages 1, 15)
• Team Satsuki Fujisawa – Grand Slam of Curling