Strong family ties behind curling teams competing in U18 championships in Timmins
The best young curlers from across the country are putting their skills to the test in Timmins this week at the 2023 U18 Curling Championship.
Their skills are what brought them to the national stage, but many of the young curlers will tell you that their curling careers started at an even younger age as a family activity.
“My parents met curling and all of my sisters curled and so, when I was little, I would always go practise with my dad after … they had their own little junior league,” said Grace Beaudry, who’s with the Manitoba team.
Beaudry said competitive curling runs in her family -- and some of the teams here even have family members competing together.
That includes the New Brunswick team.
“Me and my brother and the two other guys we’re with, I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d rather be here with,” said Aiden Matheson, a member of the team.
“It’s just, it’s a wonderful feeling and having my dad as the coach, too.”
“Dream come true, for me,” said his father, Colin Matheson.
“It’s an experience of a lifetime for my kids and for me, to be here and be able to coach them at a national event. It’s fantastic. It’s something I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do and makes me just extremely proud.”
Throwing rocks on the pebbled ice comes naturally to these athletes now. While they all took different paths to this point, many said it all started with developing a love of the sport at a young age and finding inspiration to strive for national acclaim.
“I remember staying up late and I was watching the sport and I said, ‘I wouldn’t mind trying that,” said Aiden Matheson
“I’ve been working hard to try and get there and I guess now we’re at the national level and hoping to go a little farther than that, now.”
“I went to the Manitoba Scotties with my sister,” Beaudry said.
“I knew that my goal one day was to go to nationals and this is my second one, so it’s pretty cool to be here.”
Now these athletes are looking to end the week not only with a championship but with a path toward becoming household names in Canadian curling -- and even beyond.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.