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Young curlers compete at Zone 8 Playdowns

Junior curling program a popular draw in 100 Mile House
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Kolton Lindner was one of the 100 Mile House junior curlers to compete in Williams Lake at the Zone 8 Playdowns

They struggled to find the right touch early on, but throughout the day the three teams of junior curlers from 100 Mile House got the feel for the ice, and put together a few games good enough to impress coach Maxine Todhunter at the Curl BC Zone 8 Playdowns in Williams Lake, Jan. 23-24.

On the girls' side, the 100 Mile rink, coached by Jim Mitchell, was skipped by
Ashley Holyk, with Hailey McNabb (third), Nishelle Parkins (second) and Naomi Villeneuve (lead).

A Prince George rink, which includes local curler Hannah Lindner, came out on top, and is on its way to represent the Cariboo at the provincial championships in Cowichan, March 5-8.

On the boy's side, 100 Mile was represented by two rinks. One was skipped by Ethan Sikiric,
with Michael Nielsen (third), Chance Bourassa (second), Logan Sikiric (lead), and coached by Todhunter and Don Kinasewich. 100 Mile's second rink was skipped by Eric Schuurman, with Kolton Lindner (third) Dirk Schuurman (second), Jordan Conway (lead) and coach
Richard Belanko.

A Prince George rink also won the boy's division.

The difference between the ice at the 100 Mile Curling Club and the ice in Williams Lake was something the curlers discussed and tried to work on beforehand at a final practice before the bonspiel.

“The ice in Williams Lake is quite a bit keener than ours; they struggled with that,” Todhunter explains. “[But] the last game was their best game. They were starting to figure the ice out pretty good by then.”

The Sikiric rink, for instance, dropped the first draw to Prince George, 12-1. When they met again in the final draw, however, they closed the gap, going down to the wire in a 5-4 loss.

“I was really proud of them,” the coach adds.

Todhunter also praised the local curlers' sportsmanship and conduct on the ice.

It seems the local junior curling program is thriving in 100 Mile House. The Monday and Tuesday leagues at the 100 Mile Curling Club see a total of 32 participants of different skill levels, aged between six and 15. Their season wraps on March 3, followed by a party and prizes for the curlers.

“It's very affordable, and we concentrate on them learning the game, but also coming out and just having a lot of fun,” Todhunter says of the program. “It's amazing to watch their improvement from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

Other coaches include Ed and Hollis Ney and Brenda Bourassa.