A trio of Parksville-area teens will hit the ice when the inaugural B.C. U18 Curling Championships begin in Nanaimo today.
Rebecca Douglas of Port Alberni will skip a rink that includes local athletes Libby Elliott, Michaela Morrill and Lauren Onushko in the eight-team girls tournament. The team also include’s Victoria’s Julia Kresse.
Eight boys qualifiers will also be competing at Nanaimo Curling Centre in the championships, which run through Sunday.
The teams will be making history as they will be participating in the province’s first championships in this age category. The B.C. U18 Curling Championships are for curlers 17 and under as of June 30, 2016.
These championships were previously for those 16 and under and were called the Juvenile Curling Championships. The winners went to the Optimists International U18 Curling event (which featured teams from several provinces – but not all provinces – and places like the USA and Japan).
Now the provincial event is a U18 event and the B.C. winners will go on to compete in the first Canadian U18 Curling Championships, featuring 14 teams from all provinces and territories (including two from Ontario).
Among the competitors will be Tyler Tardi and Sterling Middleton, who recently represented Canada at the 2017 VoIP Defender World Junior Curling Championships (for curlers under the age of 21). Also on the roster is Sarah Daniels, a silver medalist at last year’s Canadian juniors.
Fans are encouraged to wear red and white to cheer on their favourite teams as part of Nanaimo Curling Centre’s celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. Visit nanaimocurlingclub.ca/ for club details.
— NEWS Staff