Curling teams might enjoy practising with music playing, but how about cowbells and whistles?
That’s been the scene of late at the Victoria Curling Centre where Cameron de Jong team coach Don McMullen has been clanging bells and blowing whistles, while the newly minted B.C. champs from the VCC/Juan de Fuca clubs try to concentrate on throwing rocks. The idea was to simulate the noise the team can expect at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships that begin on Saturday in Liverpool, N.S.
“Don’s been out there with the noisemakers,” de Jong said on Tuesday at a send-off reception at VCC for the team, which includes third Brook Calibaba, second Ryan Cassidy and lead Alex Horvath. “It was weird, to say the least.”
Up-Island, the sound effects likely weren’t necessary for Kalia Van Osch and her Nanaimo/Delta B.C. junior women’s championship team of third Marika Van Osch, Sarah Daniels and Ashley Sanderson. The Van Osch duo, whose older sister Kesa won the Scotties B.C. Women’s Championship on Sunday in Prince George, appeared in the Canadians two years ago, with Kesa as skip.
“I’ve never seen a family more dedicated to curling,” coach Jim Newlands said about the Van Osch clan. “They’ve worked tirelessly. I honestly think they’ve got Olympics in their sights.”
Kalia’s team, which practises in Nanaimo and curls out of the Delta Thistle Club, was put together after losing last year’s B.C. junior final to eventual Canadian champ Corryn Brown. They’ve been in high gear ever since, even finding ice during the summer to fine-tune.
This season, the team has had two runner-up finishes at women’s World Curling Tour events.
“We’ve focused on playing more of an upper level game,” Newlands said. “They’ve jelled really well.”
It’s been a flurry of activity for the curlers — buying matching clothes, sorting out gear, booking flights, arranging time off jobs and school — in a playdown season compressed because of the Olympics. In between the travel details, the de Jong rink has been talking to a sports psychologist, and trying to get on the ice as much as possible.
“It’s been practice, practice, practice,” said de Jong.
In his final year of junior competition, the 20-year-old de Jong put together a new team that’s simmered with good chemistry. They all get along, from de Jong and his level-headed patience, to the lively Calibaba, 19, and a 15-year-old front end full of youthful enthusiasm.
In fitness training since the summer, Cassidy and Horvath have added a strong sweeping component de Jong didn’t have on past teams. Both players, with Cassidy skipping and Horvath third, along with second Derek Chandler, lead Scott Gray, also won the recent Island/Central Coast juvenile championship, and qualified for the B.C. Winter Games Feb. 20-23 in Mission.
For Calibaba, who’s from Kamloops, the opportunity to play with de Jong was one he couldn’t turn down. He had skipped at provincials in the past, but his teammates graduated, leaving him searching for a team.
“I text messaged everyone I knew,” Calibaba said, relating how he got de Jong’s reply to “move down [to Victoria].”
As skip and third, the two have the same mindset about strategy, and Calibaba was prepared to take on the the role of team booster.
“If things aren’t going right in a game, or I see the other guys slouch, I try to lift them up again.”
The Canadians feature 14 teams in each of the men’s and women’s divisions, divided into pools of seven. After six games within their pools, the top teams move into a championship pool beginning on Tuesday night, with the semifinals and finals the following weekend.
• The Optimist Club of Victoria, a longtime supporter of junior curling, presented the de Jong team with a donation of $2,000 to help with expenses in Nova Scotia.
• While Cassidy won the Island juvenile boys’ crown, Juan de Fuca clubmate Bailey Tinkler won on the girls’ side and will also be at the Winter Games in Mission, with her team of third Jordan Koster, second Sydney Brilz and lead Julia Kresse. The Games winners advance to the Optimist U-18 International Curling Championships April 2-6 in Cloverdale and Langley.
