An up-and-coming local curling team took advantage of a rare opportunity this week.
Team Chilton — Deanna and Kendall Chilton, Leanna Delich and Natalie Graham — play out of the McIntyre Curling Club.
While the young team didn't qualify for the Under 18 Canadian Curling Championship being held in Timmins this week, they wanted to play on the McIntyre arena ice that's been transformed into curling sheets.
"We ended up practising beside Brad Gushue and he was throwing rocks and he offered to us if we wanted to play a one-end, one-on-four game — so my team versus him. It was nerve-wracking, but it was also exciting,” said Delich.
Gushue is an Olympic and World champion curler who's in town to cheer on his daughter in the tournament. At the upcoming Brier, the Canadian men's championship tournament, Team Gushue will be playing as Team Canada.
“He gave us a few tips, he let one of my teammates rethrow her shot because it was a pretty hard shot. But she made it afterwards and he said, ‘Wow, good shot’,” said Delich.
The morning after hitting the ice with one of Canada's curling greats, Delich was called on to make her debut at the tournament. She played as a spare for Team Northern Ontario, who has been battling illness this week.
Games for the tournament are being played at the McIntyre Community Centre in the curling club and arena all week. Pool play wraps up on Thursday, Feb. 9, when the playdowns start. The championship games are on Saturday, Feb. 11.
An adult pass for the week is $100 and it's $60 for seniors. Single-day passes are also available. They're available online or at the arena box office.
Some games will also be streamed live on EastLink. Curling Canada + is also carrying some games on its new streaming platform.
The full schedule and details of the Timmins event are available here.
