Get to know Team Canada at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games

Get to know Canada’s mixed doubles team competing at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea this Jan. 19-Feb. 1.

The mixed doubles curling competition at the Gangneung Curling Centre will feature some of the best young athletes for a spot on the podium at the Olympics-style event. The international multi-sport event provides a high level of experience on the ice, while also teaching youth about the values of fair play and embodying Olympic values with peers from around the world.

Mixed doubles competitors Cailey Locke of Conception Bay South, N.L., and Simon Perry of Portugal Cove, N.L., earned the right to represent Canada by winning a best-of-seven mixed doubles series at the start of the curling season. The duo has been training hard since then as they prepare to wear the Maple Leaf for the first time in their young careers.

Get to know more about the team members as they prepare for Gangwon 2024!

How does it feel to represent Canada at the Youth Olympics?

Simon Perry:   I can’t lie; the selection process was both exciting and, in a way, left me with mixed feelings. First of all, it was fun putting my application together, putting all my accomplishments out onto paper and then the anticipation of a response was thrilling. We knew we were being scouted at U-18’s in Timmins, which was in its own way, more pressure than the competition itself. After that tournament, I hadn’t quite finished as I had planned, with a quarterfinal exit, I was worried that I hadn’t done enough to catch the eyes of the team deciding what players to pick.

But sure enough, on May 14th, we received an email saying we’d been selected. Ironically, there was a little mix-up, and I didn’t get the email as Cailey did. However, my mom, who did get sent the email, got to break the news to me, which was special, so it worked out well in the end. After reading the first line saying congratulations and seeing it came from Helen (Curling Canada’s Manager of Youth Curling) she ran upstairs screaming to tell me I had been selected. After a few minutes of bawling my eyes out we actually read the email and at that point we learned of the best of seven playdowns. This didn’t take away from the excitement at all but it did add a lot of stress.

Your mixed doubles team prevailed to earn the right to represent Canada. What was that experience like?

Simon Perry: Of course, the most stressful part of this whole process was the playdowns in Edmonton (and we didn’t make it easy on ourselves). The week started out as training, working with various high-performance coaches as well as the other YOG players. We’d weigh in on meetings and be guinea pigs for new methods of training. All in all, it was quite beneficial and helped us settle in for the later part of the week. As a curler, I’ve always been a bit of a comeback kid, finishing better than I started, but we really took it to the extreme this time. The curling we played after being 3-1 down in the series was the best and most fun I’ve had in my life. Every game was neck and neck, and Cailey didn’t miss a shot; it’s always nice to get carried.

Of course, we had all kinds of support; my parents, cousin, and best friend being upstairs behind the glass in the Saville helped keep me going when I got down on myself. Even Brad Gushue, who was there to watch the NextGen doubles event got invested. Pretty cool to have your inspiration cheering you on. Winning the event felt surreal and after that last rock I didn’t know what to do with myself, it would take at least a month for it all to sink in and the butterflies to leave my stomach.

How is training for the Youth Olympics going?

Cailey Locke: Since winning the best of seven series in Edmonton, our schedules have been non-stop. Between our own four-person teams and our doubles, it’s safe to say that neither Simon nor I have much downtime. However, we wouldn’t trade a minute of our hectic schedules.

We have had many amazing opportunities over the past couple of months in preparation for the Youth Olympic Games. We have both been fortunate enough to have Jeff Thomas working with us several times a week at our club in Newfoundland.

In addition to our on-ice training, we have also been working with Erin, our sports psychologist, at home to help us prepare for things such as time change, sleep routines, communication, remaining positive and goal setting. 

We have also had an opportunity to play and learn from some outstanding teams in the Beaumont Mixed Doubles spiel in November. Before our games in Beaumont, we had a couple of days of training and working with Jeff Hoffart and Scott Pfeifer. This was such a key part of our week in Edmonton because we had the chance to get to know our coaches a little better and learn from them as much as possible. After we finished our games in the tournament, we watched some of the remaining games and got to listen to both Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres and Rachel Homan/Tyler Tardi through mics so that we could learn more about our communication on the ice and improve our game. This was a major highlight and learning experience for both Simon and I.

What else is to come before leaving for South Korea this month?

Cailey Locke: Before we leave for South Korea we have one more tournament to play in Halifax and will be continuing our daily practices with Jeff at home and working with our sports physiologist so we are as prepared as we can be for the games. We are also awaiting our Team Canada kit bags and our jerseys. It is hard to describe the feelings and excitement that we are both feeling as the day gets closer but we know that we have done everything that we can to ensure that we are prepared to wear the maple leaf on our back and make Canada proud.  We can’t wait for this amazing opportunity to begin!

Cheer on Team Canada later this month and follow along with all of the results on Curling Canada’s social media channels, and on the official event website. The mixed doubles event is from Jan. 26-Feb. 1.