'It's super exciting': Curling seeing a resurgence among Calgary high school students
The Huntington Hills Curling Club was abuzz with activity over the weekend as the site of the Calgary High School Curling Championships.
Sixteen-year-old Cohen Mann and his 14-year-old sister Reaghan are both representing Heritage Christian School in the mixed division.
Cohen is the skip and he says they’ve been waiting to play on the same team for a long time.
“We’ve been curling since we were super little at a curling club and we were always put on different sheets because of our ages,” he said.
“Now we get to curl together and it’s fun because we’ve been right beside each other and watching each other.”
Curling is cool
More than 20 teams competed in this year’s event from four different divisions: men’s, women’s, mixed and open.
The winners from the men’s, women’s and mixed divisions will represent Calgary at the Provincial High School Championships in Drayton Valley, Alta., from February 22 to 24.
Reaghan says curling is cool again.
“In the past few years there had been barely any interest in curling,” she said.
“This year, so many people decided to show up and so many people from our school. We had four teams this year and last year we had one. It’s super exciting.”
More than 20 teams competed in the Calgary High School Curling Championships. (Glenn Campbell/CTV News)
From the football field to the ice
Seventeen-year-old Jonathan France was skipping a team from William Aberhart in the men’s division.
France says this is the first year of curling for him and his team.
“My football coach told me he was coaching the curling team and he was like ‘You should come out,’” he said.
“I was like, ‘That would be a lot of fun,’ and so we came out and for some reason, it’s super fun. I mean really the boys, you know the rest of the boys they’re really coming to work. I’m just yelling at them from behind really.”
Good times
Winning is obviously the ultimate goal but for those competing in the city championships, it’s just as much about having fun.
Ava Brayton, 16, is the skip for the Joane Cardinal Schubert’s women’s team. She says everyone gets to enjoy themselves a little bit more in this sport because there’s less pressure.
“Curling is a very big sport for having a positive attitude around all the teams,” she said.
“There’s hardly ever any negative energy with any teams. Even if you’re going head-to-head against them in the gold medal match you would never see anybody try to put each other down.”
The Manns and their team from Heritage Christian ended up winning the gold medal, so they’re headed to Drayton Valley later this month.
Despite being their first year curling, France’s team from William Aberhart took home the bronze medal in the men’s division.
Brayton and her rink from Joane Cardinal Schubert ended up getting the silver medal in the women’s division.
Westmount Charter won the gold medal in the open division.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted in Ontario double homicide: DOJ
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Ontario school board trustees under fire for $100K religious art purchase on Italy trip
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
A photographer snorkeled for hours to take this picture
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Tobacco giants would pay out $32.5 billion to provinces, smokers in proposed deal
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election, sources say shuffle expected soon
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell CTV News at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Robert Pickton's handwritten book seized after his death in hopes of uncovering new evidence
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
Former members of One Direction say they're 'completely devastated' by Liam Payne's death
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Israel says it has killed top Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar in Gaza
Israeli forces in Gaza killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man.
Indian government employee charged in foiled murder-for-hire plot in New York City
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.