“I love the challenge and the small teams aspect of the sport,” he said.
“And the attitude those teams bring to the rink. There is no trash talking.”
At only 18, Silversides has several years of junior remaining before what he hopes will be a productive senior career. But few of the opportunities that may come will include the chance to compete in a national tournament in his own backyard.
The Kyle Habkirk rink, which includes third Silversides, second Ryan Cassidy and lead Alex Horvath, begins play today in the Coastal playdowns taking place in the Comox Valley. The top rinks from there advance to the B.C. junior championship Dec. 26-Jan. 1 in New Westminster. The provincial champion rink stamps its ticket to the Canadian junior championships taking place later in January at Archie Browning Sports Centre and Esquimalt Curling Club.
While it’s great to dream about being a hometown rink in the Canadian juniors, the Habkirk rink is careful not to get ahead of itself.
“It’s important to get through the Coastals first,” cautioned Silversides, who is finishing Grade 12 home schooled, and plans on studying mechanical engineering at Camosun College and then UVic.
“We are taking it one game at a time and focusing on this weekend only. If we move on, then we’ll focus on the next round of games in the process.”
Silversides has tasted victory at this level before. He was on Paul Henderson’s 2014 provincial junior champion team. Ironically, that team defeated Cody Tanaka, who had as his third Habkirk, in the provincial championship game.
Also hoping to play in the 2017 junior nationals at home is the Victoria Curling Centre women’s rink of skip Mariah Coulombe, backed by third Taylor Reese-Hansen, second Jordan Kloster and lead Kirsten Zucchet.
The foursome is also at the Coastals beginning today in Comox.
As with the VCC men’s junior team, an all-Victoria backed rink skipped by Vancouver’s Habkirk, the VCC junior women are also a composite with Coulombe from Victoria, Reese-Hansen from Kitimat, Kloster from Comox and Zucchet from Chilliwack.
“It’s hard to get together but we find a way,” said Andrew Komlodi, who coaches the Coulombe rink.
The key is not how often but how well they link up.
“They are great at communicating with each other, and communicating well is the difference-maker in curling,” said Komlodi.
“The season has gone well and the rink is excited about the opportunity to play nationals in Victoria, especially in [Coulombe’s] last year of junior. It would be an awesome way to cap off her junior career.”
The 20-year-old skip was in the hunt last year when she finished fourth in B.C. with Bailey Tinkler at third, Kloster at second and Sydney Brilz at lead.
Brilz now stands in the way as the lead for the Sarah Daniels rink. Coulombe’s rink and the Lower Mainland Daniels and Corryn Brown rinks, the latter with Marika Van Osch of Nanaimo the third, are among the favourites for the B.C. junior women’s title and the berth that goes with it into the junior nationals in January.
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