On a regular basis, Mayflower teams earn the privilege to represent Nova Scotia at national championships. Contributing to this success might just be the operation of a fine youth program ladder, with Little Rocks being the starting rung.

Because it’s a very busy curling club, the Mayflower youth program has ice only on Saturday mornings. The program is broken into four sections, providing for maximum use of ice, spread over a span of age from 5 to 18 years. The different sections take into consideration skill development and social groupings.

Instruction by juniors, giving back (Photo courtesy M. Cooper)

Beginning at 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., the Little Rocks from age 5 to 8 years have the ice. The thirty curlers conduct drills for 20 minutes involving sliding and sweeping. Mini games are played throwing rocks on half the sheet. At this age, teams are not drafted up, but rather just formed with the participants of that day. The goal of the program is to keep the activity moving and to have fun.

Next, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., are the Lite Rocks (ages 9-10) and Bantams (ages 11-12) who share the six sheets of ice time. The 26 Lite Rock curlers play the full length of the ice with the ‘Lite Rock’ curling stone, a composite plastic rock which is the full size of a regular granite and looks like a real rock, but is half the weight. Prior to playing a four-end game, arranged teams conduct practices and drills for 15 to 20 minutes.

Beside the Lite Rocks at the same time are the Bantams, numbering 27 curlers this season. The Bantams also practice for 15 to 20 minutes prior to playing a four-end game the full length of the ice sheet, but they curl with the regular granite rocks.

Taking over the ice time from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. are the U15’s and U18’s, numbering 54 curlers. This is a very organized group with the goal of improving skill development through the playing of six-end games each week.

Instruction by juniors - giving back. (Photo courtesy M. Cooper)

“We are fortunate at the Mayflower to have six sheets of the Lite Rocks’, says Brian Mackintosh, program co-ordinator. “This allows the Little Rock group to use the lighter rocks for their activities.”

“Our focus the past few years is to make effective use of the practice/drill time, and then go into game play,” says Brian. “At our busy club, we do not have much time, so we need to use our time wisely to benefit all curlers.”

A program of this size needs several volunteers. About 15 coaches help out the kids each Saturday. The younger curlers get more active coaching than the older players. About 10 to 15 older juniors arrive at 9 a.m. to help the Bantams and Lite Rocks, even though they themselves do not play until 10:30 a.m. Stu Cameron has been involved for over 20 years and has been a big part of the Mayflower. In fact, Stu and club manager Dave Jones created a half-way hack used by the Littler Rockers. This hack system relies on four granite rocks to hold it in place as the youngsters throw their rocks to the house at the home end.

Mr. Mackintosh credits part of the growth in youth curling to the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the fact that the Mayflower was the host for curling during the Canada Winter Games last season in Halifax.

If you know of a Little Rock curling program or a special Little Rocker that has a story to be told, I would be thrilled to hear from you. Contact me by email, curln1-2@sympatico.ca.

Mike Gaudet (left) played third for Eddie MacKenzie at last year's Tim Hortons Brier in London. This year, he's calling the shots with a new team. (Photo Michael Burns)

It’s appropriate that he was born the same year that the popular prairie anthem hit the charts, and it would definitely win the newly crowned P.E.I. provincial champ points if he learned the lyrics and sang the song in the Brier Patch. The last time Saskatoon hosted the men’s national shootout was 2004, and Gaudet was part of the field as skip of the Prince Edward Island team that finished with a 2-9 record.

The thirty-nine year old Summerside native hopes for a better finish after capturing the 2012 Men’s Tankard Provincial Championship on January 30 at the Cornwall Curling Club. He and his Charlottetown Curling Club crew of Tyler MacKenzie, Tyler Harris and Sean Clarey downed club mate Brett Gallant, 7-5 in an exciting finish to the five-day competition. Tied at 5 apiece after nine ends of play, Gaudet engineered a decisive score of 2 in the final frame for the win.

Gaudet, who qualified out of B flight action, earned the free trip to the final after serving Charlottetown’s Rod MacDonald his first loss of the tourney in Sunday evening’s 1 vs. 2 Page playoff by a score of 9-4. At the same time, Gallant and his team of Eddie MacKenzie, Anson Carmody and Alex McFadyen needed an extra end to subdue Charlottetown’s Robert Campbell by a score of 6-5 in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff.

Gallant, the 2009 Canadian junior champ, showed his mettle in Monday afternoon’s semi-final game against Brier vet MacDonald and his support crew of Kevin Champion, Mark O’Rourke and Andrew Robinson. Trailing 6-3 after eight ends, the feisty Gallant foursome roared back to score 2 in the ninth and steal 2 more in the tenth for a 7-6 victory. That win set the stage for the championship finale, and as we now know, no one has to “Guess Who” won that game.

Team Prince Edward Island (l-r) Mike Gaudet, Tyler MacKenzie, Tyler Harris and Sean Clarey (Photo courtesy PEI Curling)

Kerry Galusha is on her way back to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Photo Andrew Klaver)

Galusha and her Yellowknife Curling Club team of Sharon Cormier, Wendy Miller and Shona Barbour finished tied with another Yellowknife foursome skipped by Maureen Miller, with identical 5-1 records after double round robin play in the four team event. Each team lost to the other in the preliminaries. The Miller foursome dominated the Galusha squad in third draw action by a score of 9-1, while Galusha returned the favour in sixth draw play to the tune of a 12-1 beat down. Two Inuvik teams, skipped by Melba Mitchell and Bridget Larocque concluded round robin play with 1-5 marks.

In the championship final tie breaker, Galusha doubled up on Miller by a score of 10-5 in claiming the crown.

Traditionally, the top two finishers from both the Northwest Territories championship and the Yukon championship advance to a combined territorial shootout, which determines the national Scotties representatives from the North. This year however, the Yukon Curling Association put forth no entries to that combined championship and the Galusha rink was awarded the title based upon their success in Inuvik.

Galusha is no stranger to the national stage. The thirty-four-year-old has skipped the Territories in seven previous Canadian Women’s Curling Championships. She also has experience in national junior and mixed play. Last year at the Charlottetown Scotties, she finished round robin competition with a record of 3 wins and 8 losses. No team from the Territories has ever captured the Canadian championship, but Galusha will be intent on changing history when she makes the trip from Yellowknife to Red Deer’s ENMAX Centrium for the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in mid-February.

That’s because the pair has spent most of January playing on Canada’s mixed curling team at the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, where they captured bronze.

Scoffin was the team’s skip while Oryniak played second. B.C.’s Corryn Brown was vice and Emily Gray of P.E.I. was lead, though neither of the girls will take part in the Juniors. The games took place Jan. 13-22 and featured over 1,000 athletes aged 15-18.

“Unbelievable experience,” Scoffin said of the games. “To be part of an Olympics games is maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was a huge honour to be playing for Canada.”

Competing nationally since the age of 12, Scoffin’s accomplishments include three Arctic Winter Game medals (one gold, two silvers), two Canada Winter Game appearances and is coming up on his sixth Juniors appearance, tying a Canadian record. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of it all is the fact that he isn’t even 18 yet.

“It’s a huge honour to be able to be a part of anything like this,” said Scoffin. “Especially at an age like this.”

Oryniak isn’t quite as experienced as his Olympic teammate, but is well on his way. Though he’s played for Manitoba at the Canada Games, this will mark his first trip to the Juniors and now feels a lot more seasoned after playing nationally. “Just playing on a big stage like that, I definitely won’t be as nervous now going into the Juniors,” said Oryniak, who is also 17. “Hopefully I can use what I learned now at the Youth Olympics and help my team at the Juniors.”

Due to the discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb near the games site, the medal ceremonies were delayed a bit. When everything was cleared up, the curling medals were one of the first handed out and became Canada’s first ever medals won at the youth winter games.

Prior to the games Scoffin and Oryniak had been training for them for much of 2011. Now that it’s come and gone the two can focus on the Juniors, particularly for Feb. 10 when the Yukon takes on Manitoba.

“I’m really looking forward to that,” said Scoffin. “I played his team once before at the Canada Games, they’re a great team….it’s going to be a ton of fun and be a great game.”

Oryniak, who plays second on Kyle Doering’s team, also has that day circled.

“I think it’ll be a lot of fun,” said Oryniak. “We play one of the last games so maybe it’ll be an important game. Hopefully it’ll be a good game and we both play well.”

As for whether or not he will be curling for Canada’s team at any future Olympic events, Oryniak isn’t looking that far ahead. “I’m going to keep curling competitive and hopefully my team does well and maybe we’ll have a chance to represent Canada again this year,” said Oryniak. “That’s a long way away but it’s definitely not out of the question.”

The team that wins the Juniors will go on to represent Canada at the World Juniors next month in Sweden.

Scoffin feels the same way, focusing on this year but also hoping to one day suit up for Canada again.

Rounding out Scoffin’s Yukon team is Mitch Young at third, David Aho at second and Will Mahoney at lead. Despite five previous appearances, he’s yet to medal at the Juniors.

Doering’s Manitoba team also includes Colton Lott at third and Lucas Van Den Bosch at lead.

The Canadian Juniors run from Feb. 4-12 at the Strathcona Paper Centre and the Napanee and District Curling Club.

In fact, if you ask him who has been the most influential person in his curling life, he’ll name his dad, Jeff Thomas.

Colin Thomas (Photo Michael Burns)

“He’s been my coach for my whole life,” he says.

Thomas was five when he first stepped on the ice at the ReMax Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and since then he’s gone on to compete – and win – at the provincial, national and international level.

He was provincial junior men’s champion in 2008, and in 2011, won the bronze medal at the M&M Canadian Junior Curling Championships. Last season he led his Memorial University team to the gold medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) curling championship.

More recently, he led his team in action at the Karuizawa International Curling Championships in Karuizawa, Japan, earning a silver medal.

Outside of his own competition, Thomas has volunteered as a curling coach for the past three years. And off the ice, he’s also added a provincial soccer gold medal to fill out the trophy case.

Watch for Colin and his Newfoundland and Labrador team at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships which get underway February 4 in Napanee, Ontario.

Birthplace:  St. John’s, NL
Hometown:   St. John’s, NL
Curling Club:  Remax center
Current Team: Team Thomas
Position:  Skip
Delivery:  Right
Nickname:  Mort

Quick Hits with Colin Thomas

Do you have any superstitions?

“I’m not superstitious, I’m a little-stitious. I have a pair of game-day boxers.”

Three people, living or not, whom you would invite to a dinner party.

“Tiger Woods, Gandhi, Steve Carell”

If you could be a star in any other sport, what would it be, and why?

“Golf, because I’d have a lot of money and still be able to play curling!”

If you could change any rule in curling, which one would it be, and why?

“I’d like to see a 5-rock rule put in place; it gives the team with hammer a better chance to get their 2 points, and more rocks in play means more exciting games.”

What music do you like to listen to before a game?

“ ‘Lucky Man’ by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Rihanna is always a good call.”

Favourite:

… Website?  “Pro-linestadium.com”

… Order from Tim Hortons?  “French vanilla, chocolate chip muffin”

… Vacation destination?  “Mediterranean cruise”

… Junk food?  “Sweet chili heat Doritos and Dr. Pepper”

Do you have any pet peeves (and you are NOT allowed to say “filling out questionnaires!”)?

“People telling over-exaggerated stories.”

Three things you always travel with?

“Laptop, Phone, Friends.”

First thing on your Bucket List?

“Skydive onto a mountain.”

Favourite pastime between draws at spiels?

“Constantly beating Wicks and Steve at ragdoll volleyball.”

One thing most people don’t know about you?

“I have a soft spot for puppies.”

What is the biggest misconception about curlers?

“That each player only does one thing. ‘Do you sweep, throw or yell?’”

Your ideal shot to win an Olympic gold medal:

“An in-turn cross-house double.”

Featured Curling Athletes in Action: The M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships will include junior curlers who have been Featured Curling Athletes throughout the season. Competing athletes in the men’s competition include Thomas Scoffin (Yukon), Derek Oryniak (Manitoba), Brendan Bottcher (Alberta), Colin Thomas (Newfoundland and Labrador) and Andrew O’Dell (New Brunswick), whose profile is coming soon. On the women’s side, watch for previously featured athletes Sarah Fullerton (P.E.I.) and Emily Dwyer (Nova Scotia), as well as upcoming featured athlete Jocelyn Peterman (Alberta).

Thirteen men’s and 13 women’s teams (representing the 10 provinces plus Northern Ontario, Northwest Territories and Yukon) will compete. Round robin games will be played at both the Strathcona Paper Centre and Napanee & District Curling Club. At the conclusion of the round robin, and, after any tiebreakers, the first place teams advance to their respective finals, while the second and third place finishers meet in semi-finals.

The ice is ready for curling in Napanee's Strathcona Paper Centre.

Both the women’s and men’s finals will be played at the Strathcona Paper Centre and will be televised live across Canada on TSN & RDS (in Quebec). The women’s final takes place on Saturday, February 11 at 7:00 pm ET while the men’s final is on Sunday, February 12, also at 7:00 pm ET.

This is the seventh year of title sponsorship by M&M Meat Shops, Canada’s leading retail chain of specialty frozen foods, since beginning its association with the 2006 Canadian Juniors in Thunder Bay.

On the men’s side, among this year’s skips are Newfoundland/Labrador’s Colin Thomas of St. John’s, who finished third at last year’s M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Calgary, won last year’s CIS/CCA University Curling Championship and most recently earned a silver medal at the Karuizawa Invitational in Japan and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, bronze medallist at the recent Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, who will be making a record-tying sixth straight appearance as skip.

On the women’s side, Northern Ontario skip Kendra Lilly of Sudbury, third place finisher in 2010, will be making her fourth appearance, joining others who competed in last year’s championship as well, such as New Brunswick’s Jennifer Armstrong of Rothesay, Newfoundland/Labrador’s Erica Trickett of St. John’s, Northwest Territories’ Taryn Williams of Yellowknife, Prince Edward Island’s Sarah Fullerton of Cornwall and Yukon’s Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse, who will be making a record sixth Juniors appearance as skip.

The Canadian Junior Men’s Championship began in 1950 in Quebec City. Alberta has since won a leading 15 titles, Saskatchewan is next with 14, while Ontario has nine, the last by Jake Walker in 2010 in Sorel-Tracy.

Saskatchewan has won a leading 11 Canadian Junior Women’s titles since 1971, while Ontario has just three crowns, the last by Rachel Homan in 2010 in Sorel-Tracy. The men’s and women’s championships were contested separately until being combined, beginning in 1987 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Ontario will be represented this year by Jamie Sinclair’s Manotick Curling Centre team in women’s and Brett DeKoning’s Omemee Curling Club team in men’s.

Up-to-the-minute draw results will be available on the Canadian Curling Association website (www.curling.ca).

The Opening Ceremony is slated for 6:30 pm ET on Saturday, February 4 at the Strathcona Paper Centre, prior to Draw 3 at 7:30 pm. The M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors get underway with Draw 1 at 10:00 am Saturday at both the Strathcona Paper Centre and Napanee & District Curling Club, followed by Draw 2 at 2:30 pm.

Single Draw tickets starting at $8 and week and weekend passes are now on sale at the Strathcona Paper Centre Box Office or by calling 613-354-4423.

The winning teams will represent Canada at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships, March 3-11 in Östersund, Sweden. Canada has won a leading 16 world junior men’s titles since 1975 and eight women’s crowns, tied with Scotland, since 1988.

Last year in Calgary, Saskatchewan’s Trish Paulsen and Braeden Moskowy, who went undefeated at 13-0, won Canadian titles. Paulsen would go on to earn a silver medal at the World Juniors in Perth, losing to Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the final, while Moskowy finished fourth.

-30-

Treize équipes d’hommes et autant de femmes (représentant les 10 provinces ainsi que le Nord de l’Ontario, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest et le Yukon) participeront à la compétition. Les matchs préliminaires se joueront au Strathcona Paper Centre et au Napanee & District Curling Club. À la fin des matchs préliminaires et après les bris d’égalité, les équipes au premier rang accèdent à leurs finales respectives tandis que celles aux 2e et 3e rangs se rencontrent en demi-finales.

The ice is ready for curling in Napanee's Strathcona Paper Center.

Les finales féminines et masculines auront lieu au Strathcona Paper Centre et seront télédiffusées en direct à travers le Canada sur le réseau TSN et RDS (au Québec). La finale des femmes se tiendra le samedi, 11 février à 19h ET alors que celle des hommes se tiendra le dimanche, 12 février également à 19h ET.

C’est la septième année de commandite majeure de M&M Meat Shops, la plus grande chaîne canadienne de produits surgelés, depuis son association avec les Juniors canadiens de 2006 à Thunder Bay.

Chez les hommes, entre autres parmi les skips de cette année, on verra de Terre-Neuve et Labrador, Colin Thomas de St. John’s qui a terminé au 3e rang l’an dernier aux Juniors canadiens M&M Meat Shops à Calgary, il a gagné le championnat CIS/CCA de curling universitaire et plus récemment il a remporté la médaille d’argent au Karuizawa Invitational au Japon et du Yukon, Thomas Scoffin de Whitehorse, médaillé de bronze aux derniers JO d’hiver de la jeunesse à Innsbruck, Autriche; il participera pour la sixième fois comme skip égalant ainsi le record de présence.

Chez les femmes, du Nord de l’Ontario, la capitaine Kendra Lilly de Sudbury, au 3e rang en 2010, participera pour la quatrième fois comme bien d’autres du championnat de l’an dernier, du Nouveau- Brunswick Jennifer Armstrong de Rothesay, de Terre-Neuve et Labrador Erica Trickett de St. John’s, des Territoires du Nord-Ouest Taryn Williams de Yellowknife, de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard Sarah Fullerton de Cornwall et du Yukon Sarah Koltun de Whitehorse qui participera aux Juniors pour la sixième fois en tant que capitaine, un record.

Le championnat canadien de curling junior masculin a débuté en 1950 dans la Ville de Québec. L’Alberta détient le record avec 15 victoires, la Saskatchewan suit avec 14 tandis que l’Ontario en a 9, le dernier remporté par Jake Walker en 2010 à Sorel-Tracy.

La Saskatchewan détient le record chez les femmes avec 11 titres canadiens depuis 1971 tandis que l’Ontario en a seulement 3, le dernier gagné par Rachel Homan en 2010 à Sorel-Tracy. Les championnats masculins et féminins furent présentés séparément jusqu’en 1987 alors réunis à Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

L’Ontario sera représentée cette année par l’équipe de Jamie Sinclair du Manotick Curling Centre chez les femmes et l’équipe de Brett DeKoning du Omemee Curling Club chez les hommes.

Les résultats seront affichés instantanément sur le site Web de l’Association canadienne de curling (www.curling.ca).

Les Cérémonies d’ouverture sont prévues à 18h30 ET, samedi, 4 février au Strathcona Paper Centre avant les rondes de 19h30. Les Juniors canadiens M&M Meat Shops débutent avec les premières rondes à 10h, samedi au Strathcona Paper Centre et au Napanee & District Curling Club suivies des deuxièmes rondes à 14h30.

Les billets à partir de 8 $ et les forfaits de semaine et des fins de semaine sont maintenant en vente aux bureaux du Strathcona Paper Centre ou en appelant au 613-354-4423.

Les équipes gagnantes représenteront le Canada aux championnats mondiaux de curling junior de 2012 du 3 au 11 mars à Östersund, Suède. Le Canada détient le record au Mondial avec 16 titres masculins et 8 couronnes féminines à égalité avec l’Écosse depuis 1988.

L’an dernier à Calgary, Trish Paulsen et Braeden Moskowy de la Saskatchewan ont remporté les titres canadiens après des parcours sans défaites à 13-0. Paulsen a par la suite gagné une médaille de bronze aux Mondiaux à Perth; elle a perdu aux mains de l’Écossaise Ève Muirhead lors de la finale tandis que Moskowy a terminé quatrième.

In the Credit Union Centre, the best teams in the country will battle for the right to hoist the Brier Tankard, emblematic of Canadian men’s curling supremacy.  Meanwhile, just down the road at the Saskatoon Training Centre, the most enthusiastic partiers in the country will keep the Original 16 Patch rocking ‘til the late hours of the night.

Opening ceremonies at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ontario (Photo Michael Burns)

The Patch is the place everyone goes when the draws are done – and that includes fans, competitors, sponsors and volunteers.  You’ll find a great selection of food and beverages and an exceptional line-up of Canada’s hottest bands including Kim Mitchell, Hey Romeo, Longshot, March Hare, the Boom Chucka Boys, the Chevelles and Mudmen.

For a taste of the championship action, fans can take part in the Cool Shots competition – the small-scale version of the roaring game played on shuffleboard-style tables – with a new round taking place every day.  Sign up for free and take your shot at the cash prizes.

Complimentary shuttle service is available at Credit Union Centre to take you on the five-minute ride to all the fun at the Original 16 Patch.

The best part is, all this is included in the price of every same-day event pass… along with access to the Purple Heart Lounge right on-site in Credit Union Centre.  It’s a relaxing spot for a beverage and a bite and a chance to meet face-to-face with the athletes.

The lounge is also the setting for daily Team Autograph sessions where you can pose for a photo with your favourite curlers and have them sign on the line.  And, make sure you’re there for the popular Up Close and Personal Interviews… that’s when you can ask the questions and get an entirely new insight to the greatest names in the game.

The Tim Hortons Brier features a whole lot of value in every event pass.  For the full entertainment schedule, just click here.

“You Gotta Be There” for one of the most entertaining experiences in the sporting world… the Tim Hortons Brier, March 3-11 in Credit Union Place.  Click here to get your event pass right now.

Scott and her Kelowna Curling Club mates Dailene Sivertson, Sasha Carter and Jacquie Armstrong took the title with a last rock 6-5 victory over Marla Mallett’s Royal City team of Kelly Shimizu, Danielle Callens and Barbara Zbeetnoff. With the score tied at 5 after the ninth end, Mallett’s steal attempt came up short, and Scott drew the four-foot for the win.

Kelly Scott and her B.C. champions are on their way to the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Photo Michael Burns)

When round robin play concluded on Friday morning, seven of the ten teams which had started play four days earlier were still alive. Scott sat atop the standings with a 7-2 record, followed by Mallett and Victoria’s Roselyn Craig at 6-3. Four teams finished at 5-4, which meant that tie breakers were necessary to determine the Page playoff participants.

Royal City’s Kelley Law survived tie breaker challenges from Richmond’s Marilou Richter and Prince George’s Jen Rusnell and then took advantage of a score of 3 in the fourth and a steal of 1 in the fifth in upsetting the Craig team, 7-5 in Saturday morning’s 3 vs. 4 Page playoff.

Mallett had earlier won the page 1 vs. 2 game against Scott, when the latter was forced to throw all caution to the wind in attempting to steal a single in an extra end against the 2009 provincial champ. Tied at 5 apiece after regulation, Mallett scored another 5 in the eleventh for the 10-5 victory.

With the win, Mallett secured her team’s place in the championship final while Scott would need to survive a semi final tilt with the hard-charging Law contingent. In that Saturday night match, Scott scored 2 with the hammer in the first and seventh ends and 3 in the fifth en route to a 9-7 victory. With that loss, Law , the 2000 world champ, and her team of Shannon Aleksic, Kirsten Fox and Dawn Suliak were done for the week, while Scott earned the right to face Mallett in Sunday evening’s final.

Look for Scott and her team to make a big impact at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts when it’s contested in Red Deer, Alberta from February 18-26.

Action on the ice at the 2011 Ford World Women's Curling Championship (Photo courtesy WCF/Richard Gray)

Canada is scheduled to take on the United States on Saturday of opening weekend at 7:00 pm. The next day, Team Canada will face China in the 2:30 p.m. afternoon draw followed by Switzerland at 7:30 p.m.

Other key matches for the home team include Sweden, Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., Germany on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., and the wrap-up of round robin play against Scotland 7:00 p.m. Thursday.

Prime tickets for all 22 draws, including day passes and Take 5 mini-packs, are available to put you in great seats at a great value to cheer on Canada in the quest for the world title.  To select the games you really want to see, check out the complete draw schedule by clicking here.

“You Gotta Be There”… when Team Canada takes on the very best from the rest of the world at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship.  Excellent seats for all the action are still on sale – just click here to get yours now.

After suffering a traumatic brain injury in January of 2011 during her weekly mixed curling game, Whitnack has decided to share her story in hopes of encouraging safer curling and perhaps preventing injury in someone else.

Friday January 21, 2011 arrived just like any other day. Whitnack was midway through her game when when tragedy struck.

“I went down horizontally and hit the ice hard with my head, bounced, and hit it again… someone five sheets over said they could hear my skull crack,” states Whitnack.

Whitnack doesn’t remember what happened because the impact of the fall caused amnesia from about 15 minutes before the fall to 15 minutes after.

“I have no recollection of what happened,” said Whitnack.

She has managed to piece together the night’s events by talking to those who were on the ice, the EMS, and the staff at the curling club who responded to the injury.

Whitnack’s first recollection after falling is laying on the ice and asking another curler, who was holding her head still, if she had fallen.
At that point she didn’t feel fearful of her injury, “I thought, wow, I’m handling this really well.”

Soon EMS came and took her to the hospital. She was bleeding from the head and had pain in her skull as well as in her arm.

At first when she got to the hospital they stitched her up in non-urgent care. Then one of the nurses noticed both of Whitnacks’ eyes had begun to turn black with bruising quite rapidly. She was soon sent for a CAT scan where it was discovered that she had a Basal skull fracture, which is bleeding around the brain in the tissue of the subdural space. Doctors decided to keep her overnight because they were concerned about the blood building up in a pocket. If that happened they’d have to drill a hole in her skull to relieve the pressure.

Fortunately this wasn’t necessary but they did admit Whitnack to the neurology unit and keep her for six additional days. Her time in the hospital was spent suffering from violent headaches, weakness, vomiting, fatigue, and severe pain. She still suffers from some of these symptoms to this day.

Aside from the head injury, Whitnack has also sustained an injury to her right arm. Blood ran down the subdural space from her brain and along the brachial plexus in her right arm. This causes her arm pain and weakness even now.

Whitnack also suffers from some short-term memory loss. “I have trouble learning new things.”

“Those few seconds changed my whole life,” said Whitnack, who used to work as a home care nurse, “I haven’t been able to go back to work.”

Wearing a helmet on the ice is a good idea for any curler of any age (Photo courtesy M. Cooper)

This January Whitnack returned to the curling ice to give curling another try. This time she took no chances. She armed herself with a halo-style curling helmet and she would recommend this piece of equipment to anyone and everyone.

Whitnacks’ argument in favour of helmets is simple, “Do you value your brain? Because in a few seconds your life can change.”

Whitnack wishes she had thought to purchase a helmet prior to her injury, “I knew of head protection (for curling) but I didn’t pursue it.”
She hopes to see helmets become more and more common place in the future especially for people with balance problems, new curlers, young curlers, and fearful curlers.

“We are going to have slip/fall accidents but what can we do to prevent them?” asks Whitnack. She firmly believes helmets to be an important part of the solution.

Something else she found helpful was taking time to get back on the ice prior to getting into a game situation. Whitnack is a curler at the Calgary Winter Club and she decided to call me up for a little support getting back out there.

We chose a time when there wouldn’t be too many people around to watch her. Instead of jumping right in and starting to throw rocks we took things very slowly. We started off walking to the far end and back with grippers on. I stayed close just in case she felt nervous. We then slid to the other end and back to get comfortable on the slider again. Once we finished with that we moved on to rocks. Whitnack claims this extra time spent getting reacquainted with the ice was incredibly helpful. Taking things slowly was very important.

The sleek black halo-style helmet covering the sides and back of her head has garnered notice from her fellow curlers. She is the first in the league to wear such a thing but she, hopefully, won’t be the last.

“I’ve had lots of good feedback on the helmet and it feels very normal to be back on the ice.”

With support and encouragement from friends, family and other curlers Whitnack will continue with the sport she so enjoys.

Robert Desjardins will represent Quebec at the 2012 Tim Horton's Brier in Saskatoon (Photo Michael Burns)

Desjardins scored an exciting extra end win over Trois-Rivières-Laviolette’s Phillipe Lemay on Sunday, January 29. Tied at seven apiece after regulation, Desjardins used last rock advantage in the extra frame to manufacture a single and the 8-7 win.

Lemay, whose team consisted of Mathieu Beaufort, Jean-Michel Arsenault and Erik Lachance, had beaten Desjardins in Saturday’s 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game by a score of 8-5 in securing a place in the championship final. Desjardins was forced to battle Etchemin’s Jean-Michel Ménard in a fiercely contested semi-final game in order to get another crack at Lemay. Tied at 4-4 after eight ends in that penultimate game, Team Desjardins capitalized on a big score of 3 in the ninth en route to a 7-4 win.

Team Ménard, which qualified out of the C Event action along with Glenmore Rosemere’s Steve Gagnon, won the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff game involving those two rinks by a score of 10-7.

The 2006 Brier champ was supported by Martin Ridge, Eric Sylvain and Phillipe Ménard, while Gagnon had Martin Roy, Mike Coolidge and Olivier Beaulieu in front of him.

Qualifying out of A side action, Lemay’s loss in the final was his first of the competition, which was contested at the Club de Curling Kénogami from January 24-29.

This is the first time Robert Desjardins has skipped a team to a Quebec Tankard championship. He played vice on the Francois Gagné team which finished with a 3-8 record at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ontario. He’ll be looking for better things when he and his mates make the trip to Saskatoon for the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, to be held at the Credit Union Centre from March 3-11.

The four-time national women’s champ will be accompanied by her St. Vital teammates, vice Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin, after they survived a gruelling weekend of high-pressure games at the conclusion of the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts held in Portage La Prairie from January 25-29.

Jennifer Jones will represent Manitoba at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer. (Photo Michael Burns)

Entering Saturday morning’s last game of round robin play with the prospect of elimination looming with a loss, the Jones rink reeled off five straight do-or-die wins in the span of less than 30 hours: a remarkable testament to their gutsy perseverance. The last game, against an equally determined Carey rink consisting of Kristy McDonald, Kristen Foster and Lindsay Titheridge, came down to the last rock in the last end. As has been the case more often than not throughout her storied career, the thirty-seven-year-old Jones was up to the task. Her tap-back score of 1 broke the 5-5 deadlock between the two finalists.

For the record, the five straight wins included a last round triumph and subsequent tie-breaker victory over Winnipeg Granite’s Jill Thurston and then a third Saturday win over Miami’s Lisa DeRiviere in the page playoff battle of second place pool finishers.

In the Sunday morning semi-final game against Barb Spencer and her Fort Rouge team of Karen Klein, Ainsley Champagne and Raunora Westcott, Jones built up a 5-2 lead after five ends on the way to a 7-5 victory.

The Carey rink had advanced to Sunday’s final after finishing on top in their pool play and downing the Spencer rink 10-5 in the Page playoff involving first place finishers.

This was the second straight year that the Morden foursome came oh-so-close to winning the Manitoba women’s title. Last year they lost the final to Cathy Overton-Clapham by a score of 7-4.

On the women’s side, Manotick’s Jamie Sinclair will call the shots while Omemee’s Brett DeKoning throws last for the men’s. Though both have impressive curling resumes, neither has ever skipped at a national championship.

“It was a shock,” Sinclair said of when she qualified earlier this month. “It’s what we worked for all year, but having it come true was pretty incredible. There was definitely a lot of emotion going on.”

Sinclair had been trying to qualify since 2008. In 2007 she was lead on Rachel Homan’s team, which captured the gold medal at the Canada Winter Games.

“At the Canada Games we also played on arena ice,” Sinclair said of her preparations for the Juniors. “The crowds in the stands were a big distraction and all the cow bells and everything. Having that experience will definitely help me going into Napanee.”

For DeKoning it’s a similar story. Though he had never qualified for nationals, he captured an Ontario Curling Association bantam championship and played in the Ontario Winter Games in ‘08. This is his first year skipping on his current team, which he formed in September.

“It was a great feeling,” he said. “We all knew each other and we didn’t have many expectations. We were just going to have fun this year. We knew we had the potential to win it, we just kept hopping along and we were lucky to be where we were at the end.”

For Omemee, which is near Peterborough, DeKoning’s victory marked the first time the region will be represented at nationals.

“(Curling) is pretty prominent there,” he said. “There’s a lot of small curling clubs in that area… it was really special to win a banner for Omemee.”

Though neither team has ties to the Napanee area, since they’ll be representing Ontario, they’re hoping for a large following.

“There’s going to be a lot of people there that want us to win, being the home team,” said Sinclair. “I wouldn’t say there’s anymore pressure than being from any other province. It’s just really going to be great to have the support from all the fans that are going to be out there.”

DeKoning agrees, adding that he expects a large contingent of Omemee supporters.
“I think we’ll enjoy the support more than we’ll feel the pressure,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of fans there.”

As for Sinclair, given that Manotick is near Ottawa, she too expects a fair amount of support from her home town.

Both skips will try to lead their province to victory when the Juniors get underway Feb. 4-12.

The games will be played at both the Strathcona Paper Centre and Napanee and District Curling Club.

By claiming the Alberta Scotties women’s curling championship with a convincing 8-5 final game victory over Jessie Kaufman on Sunday, January 29 in Leduc, Nedohin and her Edmonton Saville Sports Centre team of Beth Iskiw, Jessica Mair and Laine Peters instantly became home-province fan favourites for the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, when it’s held in Red Deer from February 18-26.

She's going back to the Scotties: Heather Nedohin in action at the 2011 Capital One Canada Cup of Curling (Photo Michael Burns)

After losing the provincial final in 2011 to Shannon Kleibrink, Nedohin led her team to this year’s title by qualifying out of B Event play. Jessie Kaufman and her Saville Sports Centre team of Nicky Kaufman, Amanda-Dawn Coderre and Stephanie Enright had beaten Nedohin earlier in the A Event final to qualify. Val Sweeting, also of the Saville Sports Centre and Crystal Webster of Calgary’s Glencoe Curling Club claimed the last two playoff spots by qualifying out of the C Event.

In the first round of page playoff games, Webster ended Sweeting’s hopes by using the hammer in the tenth end to score a 5-4 victory in the 3 vs. 4 contest, while Kaufman moved directly to Sunday’s final game by scoring a 3 in the third end, 2 in the eighth and stealing 1 in the ninth in downing Nedohin in the 1 vs. 2 matchup.

In the Sunday morning semi-final against the Webster rink of Erin Carmody, Geri-Lynn Ramsay and Samantha Preston, Team Nedohin trailed 5-3 after eight ends before scoring 1 in the ninth and then stealing singles in the tenth and eleventh for the 6-5 win. The team’s championship dreams remained intact as they headed to the Sunday afternoon final game showdown with Jessie Kaufman.

Heather Nedohin won the Canadian women’s curling championship, then known as the Scott Tournament of Hearts, in 1998, as vice for Cathy King who was then known as Cathy Borst.

The 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts takes place February 18-26 at Westerner Park in Red Deer, Alberta.