Hitting Stride at U-18s

TWO DAYS OF U-18 COMPETITION IN THE BOOKS; MORE TEAMS STILL TO COME 

Even though the field wasn’t yet complete, the second day of action at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships started to feel a little more normal as round robin play continued. 

While two more teams landed in the afternoon following days of travel delays, the final three arrivals were expected to arrive in Saskatoon late Tuesday night to complete the 42-team field. Those five teams will complete their six-game round robin in three days starting Wednesday, whereas some teams have already played four games. 

One such team is Nova Scotia #r1 skipped by Zach Atherton. While some of their Bluenoser colleagues were still stuck at Pearson Airport, the Halifax-based team of Atherton, Alan Fawcett, Tyler McMullan, and Jed Freeman methodically piled up wins; their fourth Tuesday afternoon vs. Northwest Territories. 

“It feels really good,” said Atherton of their performance so far. “We prepared all year for this, all of us, and it’s paying off. It’ll be nice to have a day off tomorrow, so we can get some rest.” 

The day off comes as part of a re-jigged schedule, which accomodates the late arrivals, so all teams can play a full slate of games. As a result, some teams ended up with a top-heavy schedule, while the late teams will cram their round robin into the second half of the week. 

Schedule adjustments were fast and furious, right up until Tuesday afternoon. 

“They reorganized the schedule, and that’s great,” said Atherton. “I’m going to laugh at them a bit, because there are some Nova Scotia teams coming late – but I think it’s great they get to play the whole schedule, and that they didn’t have to forfeit – because it wasn’t their fault.” 

The constantly evolving schedule threw a wrench into the system of even the most well-prepared teams. 

“We’re just taking it as it goes,” said Atherton. “We had our schedule set up for the whole week, and all our meals set for certain times. Now we just have to re-order them, trying to fit them in like puzzle pieces.” 

While Nova Scotia #1 sits at 4-0, Nova Scotia #2 will hit the ice for their first game at 8:30 am on Wednesday. The teams from P.E.I. and Newfoundland & Labrador (both male and female) will also start Wednesday. 

On the women’s side, Nova Scotia #1 (skipped by Cassidy Blades) and Ontario #1 (skipped by Katrina Frlan) both sit at 3-0, leading the way. They are in the same pool though, so their perfect records may be on the line when they meet on Friday. 

For scores and schedules, visit http://curling.ca/scoreboard