SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – Two P.E.I. curling rinks will take different levels of experience onto the national stage in Saskatchewan.
Tyler Smith, 20, will skip a veteran and experienced men’s rink out of the Charlottetown Curling Complex, and the Lauren Ferguson-skipped women’s team from the Cornwall Curling Club will be making its debut in the New Holland Canadian junior championships, which begin Saturday and run through to Jan. 27, in Prince Albert.
From left: Robbie Doherty, Ryan Lowery, Alex MacFadyen, Ryan Abraham, Tyler Smith
“All of these guys on my team have been to at least one (national), if not two,” said Smith, who is attending his fifth Canadian juniors and third as a skip after playing third for New Brunswick in 2018. “We all have the knowledge of what it takes to be a top three, four, five team.”
“We understand how much training goes into it, how much work you have to put towards it and the amount of focus you need out there. You also need to have a good time, and you have to have that happy balance.
Smith’s teammates are third Ryan Abraham, 19; second Alex MacFadyen, 20, and lead Ryan Lowery, 18. Smith does not hide the fact the Robbie Doherty-coached squad has high goals.
“Our primary goal is to finish top five, and our secondary goal is to make the playoffs.”
First time
The Canadian juniors start a busy stretch for the Ferguson rink, which recently earned the right to represent P.E.I. in women’s curling at the 2019 Canada Games in February.
Left to right: Lauren Ferguson, Katie Shaw, Alexis Burris, Lexie Murray
Although this will be the Ferguson rink’s first time at the junior nationals, the team members have previous experience at a Canadian championship. They posted a respectable 3-3 record at the 2018 Canadian under-18 event in St. Andrews, N.B.
“We know there will be a lot of really good teams out there,” said Ferguson, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School.
Other members of the youthful Ferguson rink, which is in its second year playing together, are third Katie Shaw, 16; second Alexis Burris, 17, and lead Lexie Murray, 16.