View from the Hack — Brandon high school curling league flourishing

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This article was published 11/12/2019 (2371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The beauty of curling is that it’s truly a sport for everyone.

The Brandon high school curling league brings together kids of all ages, experience levels and backgrounds to the Brandon Curling Club every Monday, and the students love it.

This year there are a record 18 teams from Vincent Massey, Neelin, Crocus Plains and even a pair of curlers from Elton Collegiate enjoying the roaring game.

“We have all types of curlers, we have beginners, who are new to the game and some kids who have been playing for six years, so it’s a broad spectrum of talent and ability,” Vincent Massey manager Nicole Garbutt said.

“Some are here to just have fun and some are here with the intent to go on to provincials.”

Erica Peters, a Grade 12 student from Massey has goals of heading to provincials with her team. Peters, the lead, has been curling for two years and enjoys the social aspect of it.

“I think it’s a good environment with my friends and it’s socializing with kids from other schools and meeting other kids who like curling too,” she said.

Fellow Grade 12 Massey student Denny Jiang said playing and having fun with his friends is what “it’s all about, having a good time.”

“This is my second year,” he said during a break on one of the sheets that was practising skills. “Honestly I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I just like being around my friends.”

Garbutt said the numbers have been increasing each year. The high school curling program is unique because it is “less combative,” she said.

“It’s one of the only sports where they’re all kind of blended together and they’re mixing amongst the high schools,” Garbutt said.

Peters’ team is skipped by Abby Lovas, while Lauren McCevoy plays third and Jordan Koroluk is the second.

Curling tends to be a sport that is far more fun to play than to watch, at least in my opinion, but Peters got into the sport after watching it on television.

“It’s interesting watching it on TV and seeing the skill and wondering if you can do it yourself and seeing the improvements as you go, it’s really nice,” Peters said.

Peters also plays volleyball and said the coordination needed in the court sport translates to the pebbled ice surface.

Jiang also plays basketball at Massey and said curling includes more types of athletes.

“I play basketball, which can exclude a lot of people. But this? Anyone can do it,” he said.

Jiang got into the sport after joining a team with some of his friends and this year he was able to form his own team.

“I was really bad last year, I could not slide at all,” he said with a laugh.

The high school program doesn’t discriminate on the skill ability and is a welcoming place. It doesn’t matter who you talk to in the curling world, you always hear about how welcoming it is. Jiang and Peters echoed that sentiment.

“Everyone here is super nice, like a little family,” Jiang said.

The toughest thing about curling for Jiang? The sweeping.

“It’s a killer upper body workout,” he said. “I’m pretty into working out so it’s a good arm workout, good cardio.”

He also said curling has helped improved his “crap balance.”

Garbutt said the BCC has been more than accommodating for the students, providing brooms and sliders for kids to use.

“What’s kind of cool is that we have some former curlers that are coming back and they’re offering their services as coaches,” she said.

The program runs every Monday night from 4 to 5:30 p.m., until March. High school curling provincials are at the end of February in Beausejour. Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association has added mixed doubles this year.

EXTRA ENDS: The Neepawa Curling Club is hosting its Boxing Day Spiel on Dec. 26. Entries are $80, contact Grant or Michelle Babcock at 204-476-5585 … The Swan Lake Curling Club is hosting a skins tournament Jan. 3-4. Cost is $120 per team, contact Christine at cgundrum15@hotmail.com. Deadline is Jan. 1 … The 129th Brandon Men’s Bonspiel is taking place Jan. 9-12, entries for the competitive division is $450 and $200 for the recreational division. Contact Travis Taylor at travistaylor@wcgwave.ca for the competitive division and Trevor Pomeroy at tpomeroy@gmail.com for the recreational division. Entries close on Dec. 30 at noon … The 84th annual Brandon Ladies 20/20 Bonspiel is Jan. 17-19 at the Brandon and Riverview Curling Clubs. Cost is $180 for a ladies team and $160 for a junior team (1998 or later birth date). Entry forms can be found at brandoncurlingclub.com and can be sent to Bonnie Carnegie at bndlbonspiel@gmail.com. Deadline is Jan. 10.