Team Clendenan

The Toronto Curling Association tournament is a prestigious stop on the Ontario Junior Curling Tour for any competitive team. Historically featuring 16 teams from all over Ontario, this year’s event was expanded to 20 (with even more on a waiting list) and there was also a new bracket formula which seeded teams into pools for round robin play and then re-seeded the top teams from each pool prior to the playoff rounds.

Despite winning three out of four games against their pool teams (Johnston – OSHAWA, Titkai – BAYVIEW, McGovern – FERGUS) Team Clendenan dropped to seventh place after pool eliminations because of a less than stellar shoot out score. They were further challenged by losing hammer and rock colour choice for every game in the playoffs (which was the bonus for the higher seeded team in each playoff game) and they would have to face the second place team (Thorne – OTTAWA) in the quarter finals who just happened to be the only team to beat them in pool play. It didn’t seem to matter though, because Team C appeared immune to their handicaps and they came together with a payback win against Thorne and a follow up confident semi-final win (against Snelgrove – UNIONVILLE). The final game (against Kiemele – NIAGARA FALLS) was a significant test of endurance and focus for both teams but knowing what was at stake, neither was willing to let the other have anything in the house to work with until the last couple of ends. Coming home tied without hammer put the pressure in the opposition’s corner to perform and in a reversal of fortune from the last time these two rivals met up, this time the good guys stole the winning point and clinched the Championship title.

All told, Team Clendenan played more than 14 hours of curling over a time period of a little more than two days and winning their very first banner probably gave them enough energy to go right back out and play some more. It was amazing to see the girls’ resilience with a new coach, new event rules and even a snow storm to create lots of material for the scrapbook but the confidence boost prior to Zone play downs in January should be just enough muscle to leverage their best of self for the final run of their season.

Fergus Zone play downs, here we come!