Kayla Skrlik and her curling rink aim to get back to the Scotties
Kayla Skrlik and her rink out of the Garrison Curling Club in Calgary picked up their first win of the season a couple of weeks ago at the Martensville International in Saskatchewan.
Team Skrlik knocked off Amber Holland's rink 9-1 in the championship game.
Skrlik says the win was big for the team's confidence.
"It was huge, honestly," she said.
"It was good to go into the playoffs undefeated and then keep that going as well. We've had a couple of second-places this season that have sort of stung, and it was sort of huge for our points as well as we're tracking for the Olympic trials in the two years total, and also the slams to break through."
New teammate
After struggling last season, Team Skrlik made a change to their lineup.
Brittany Tran is out, replaced by Margot Flemming, who was curling with Kerry Galusha and her rink out of Yellowknife.
Flemming was looking for a new opportunity and says she found it in Calgary with Team Skrlik.
So far, she's brought a lot to the team.
"Bringing that experience to the team at the national-level stage is helpful," she said.
"And also, just being the sounding board, and I feel like with the team and being the new face and helping the team with dynamics and just to get us to where we want to be."
Good fit
Flemming joins second Ashton Skrlik and lead Geri-Lynn Ramsay to make up the rest of Team Skrlik.
Kayla Skrlik says Flemming has been a good fit on and off the ice.
"Margot has been great for our team dynamic," the skip said.
"She's a powerhouse at third. She throws really hard and heavy, so it's brought quite a bit of depth to our game and we're able to play different styles of games this year, which has helped us quite a bit."
Good work ethic
Shannon Kleibrink, who is helping coach Team Skrlik, says she loves the chemistry on the team and their work ethic.
"They're just so talented top to bottom, and most importantly, they work so hard," Kleibrink said.
"They're really focused on their goals and lots of practice time every week and yeah, they keep me busy."
Hoping to get back to the Scotties
One of the big goals is to get back to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Team Skrlik represented Alberta in 2023 and Skrlik says they'd love to get back there in 2025.
"It would be huge," she said.
"That's our common goal for the year is to get back to the Scotties."
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