Rookies in the national spotlight

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/02/2012 (5284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They are representing Manitoba at what many consider to be the pinnacle event on the junior curling calendar, and they’ll be doing it for the first time.

Shannon Birchard and Kyle Doering, the provincial champions in the junior women’s and junior men’s classes, jumped on a plane and headed to Napanee, Ont., Thursday morning for the 2012 Canadian junior curling championships.

Neither skip has been to an event like this before. It’s all happening now.

“Excited, nervous, then excited again — it seems to go between those two emotions,” Birchard said on what her past week has been like leading up to the event. “We’re all very excited to go and play for Manitoba. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be an amazing experience.”

The Canadian junior curling championships start Saturday, with both the junior women and junior men competing in the same venues.

Birchard and her St. Vital rink — featuring third Selena Kaatz, second Kristin MacCuish, and lead Mariah Mondor — got past Alyssa Vandepoele in the junior women’s final three weeks ago and while the skip confessed the feeling of being a Manitoba champion was still a little new to her, she’s getting used to the idea.

“It’s been a lot of attention,” the 17-year-old said.

“Everyone is wishing us luck and offering encouragement. We had our send-off last weekend. It was great. There’s a lot of support out there for us.”

The St. John’s-Ravenscourt student is a little unsure of what to expect on the national stage.

People have offered all kinds of advice but fortunately for her, she has some experience right in her back pocket. Mondor is a former Manitoba champion (she curled with Breanne Meakin in 2010) and according to Birchard has been a fountain of knowledge when it comes to dealing with the added pressure of a Canadian championship.

So what advice has she given the team?

“Enjoy every minute of it,” Birchard said. “Hopefully we can relax and do that.” Meanwhile, Doering, 16, has been bouncing off the walls the last three weeks, trying to find the right level of emotion heading into the Canadian championship.

After taking a few days off following his provincial title win, the Garden City student has found time on the ice almost every day, working on his game and trying to stay sharp for Napanee.

“This has been on my mind since we won the provincials,” he said.

“I’ve been on the (event) website pretty much every day, checking out what’s going on.”

His West Kildonan rink — third Colton Lott, second Derek Oryniak and lead Lucas Van Den Bosch — knocked off heavily favoured Joey Witherspoon in the junior men’s final.

A win against a top player in a title game can be dangerous, Doering says, as it’s often difficult to sustain focus and momentum over a prolonged break in competitive curling.

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“To play at the same level that we just played at three weeks ago will be tough to do,” admits Doering, who will be one of the youngest skips at the championships.

“We’ve never really been in this position before.

“There’s like a lull, where you’re mentally drained, so we’ve tried to keep the energy up and maintain the focus.”

The two Manitoba rinks open up the championships Saturday (1:30 p.m.), with both taking on teams from Northern Ontario.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca