High school curling championships

One year ago Tisdale was all geared up to host the provincial high school play-offs but this is even a bigger year with two teams from Tisdale competing with the top teams in the province.

The girls team is made up of: Caitlyn Hebert, Riley Hedin, Misty McLahlan , Jessica Mckee. Their first game is at 9:00AM Thursday morning as they face Strasbourg in Whitewood. The draw is shown below and you can follow the progress of the tournament by going to the SHSAA web site which will have notes on each game.

For those who may have tuned into the Tournament of Hearts this past weekend it is clear that high level competitive curling is not so much a game of skill and strategy but a game that tests the players ability to maintain composure under pressure so that they can let the skill and strategy take place. But mostly its a game of courage and emotional control.

Through the years curling has attempted to maintain an outstanding level of sportsmanship but in every competition the are pilotal events that can shake the confidence of a team or bloster their determination.

The mixed team consists of: Cory Ellis, Kim Dancey, Tyler Ratushniak, Mari McLahlan. For them the competition begins Thursday morning at 9:00AM as they take on Moose Jaw's Central Collegiate

As a high school curler and later as a high school curling coach the dynamics and play in the mixed game is one more level above both girls and boys curling. Today the sweeping and skill levels are far less a factor then years ago but

there still remains a complicated set of variables in the game. With emotions and the importance of controlling the tension during the game mixed curling is just a very different game than either of the other two teams.

That dynamic factor of communications on a boys team seems to hing so much upon the leadership in the team and with a girls team there is a complex inter-support that forms as the games and competition progresses. But in mixed there is a dramatic need for the boys and girls to pull together and encourage one another to get those high percentage figures of play.

Early in the final game Sunday on television you may have seen how a seemingly minor set of circumstances compounded and the skill levels declined on the Saskatchewan team to 60% while the winning opponents were confidently working in the 80s and 90s.

Good luck to each of these two teams this week, win or lose you will make us all proud.