McEwen: Summer(side) road relief — pavement stops here!

It’s that time of year for many of us competitive curlers — there’s both excitement and relief on the horizon. With the off-season in sight and spring creeping up on us (much too slowly by the way) the Players’ Championship invites are out!

The Players’ Championship will be held April 15-20 at Credit Union Place in Summerside, P.E.I. It is the finale of our long season and it is the oldest tournament of the Grand Slam of Curling series. Dating back to 1993, this will be its 22nd year running. If you are going to win one Grand Slam of the year this is the one you want to hoist! (Still a work in progress for us by the way).

What makes the Players’ that much more special? It’s one of the few prestigious tournaments (since 2006) with a combined men’s and women’s field. All of the invited teams are determined by their year-to-date performance — no sneaking into this event unqualified! There will be a heavy contingent of Canadian teams, but a sizeable international presence will be in attendance too. Plus, both genders playing adds to the competitive and social experience — all the better to take-in/tune-in for the curling fans.

The Players’ is my personal favourite of the Grand Slams. Stack on a four-year Olympic cycle ending and there are a lot of stories unfolding in the background (we’ll talk soon about team change/upheaval in a future blog). Therefore, not only does it have the absolute best field, but I find it especially challenging and interesting to see who is able to stay sharp and highly motivated at this time of year. Add in that a lot of the players get along quite well and we’ll not see them for a few months — it can’t be helped that a balancing act is required for some off-ice fun! Lastly, there’s something to be said about accomplishing the feat of being the one team to finish their season off with a “W” … not to mention the tagline “Players’ Champions” and a nice paycheque to boot!

This season has had it’s particular challenges with most teams loading up on tour events the first couple months, then three months of Olympic/provincial/national/world playdowns. Finally, many of us finish with a quick month of tour events (two Grand Slams and a World Curling Tour event for my team). There is definitely an element of “burnout” to consider and it can be difficult to feel fresh and prepared to be your best in April.

So, what does my team do to be ready for the conclusion to the season? Self-improvement is always on my radar and as a team we still try to breakup the day-to-day practice/training with some away playing time. We’ve hit the road again for what has become an annual trip to Grande Prairie, Alberta. Unless you are Team Canada, it is tough to find a quality event just preceding the Players’. We’ve found it here in Grande Prairie — a good mix of competition in a relaxed atmosphere. Pressure packed events are exciting and all, but it’s nice to get back to some good ol’ curling … I’ve certainly been guilty of forgetting how good it is!

[Editor’s note: Team McEwen defeated Team Stoughton 6-5 in the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown final in Grande Prairie on Sunday.]

Stay tuned as I’ll have more thoughts leading up to our departure for “the Island.” Looking forward to one guarantee upon arrival — some of the very best hospitality in the country!