Team Clendenan

Though summer weather has been elusive, the truth is that even a gorgeous summer vacation day would not have deterred Team Clendenan from hitting the ice for their first League game in Oakville. The spillover excitement from two members who just completed the Trillium High Performance Camp and with crossover memories from two members still reminiscing about their training last month in Germany, no one had to be reminded to be dressed and ready to go – especially with the arrival of the new coats to complete the “superman” change.

The opponent (Team Caldwell ) is ordinarily a first year junior girls team but with missing members due to the alternate week of Trillium training, two bantam boys and a bantam girl were inserted to fill the spaces. With a slightly shuffled lineup and our fifth player on our roster, it appeared to be an even match of pre-season skills which was supported by the flip flop of ends taken over the course of the game. Out of the gate with a 3 for the good guys, the opposition was limited to 1 in the second but then stole 1 in the third which was a gentle reminder that the game would not be a gimmie. Moving into the fourth a solid deuce was recorded for our ladies but dusty strategy quickly erased the gap when Team Caldwell fought back and capitalized with a 3 of their own and then stole another single in the sixth end to ensure that our girls were paying attention. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, slow play meant that the game would be limited to seven ends which gave us the hammer and a chance to successfully finish with back to back draws to the center of the rings for a deuce and the win.

I have yet to meet a competitive curler who groans about sacrificing summer fun (and warmth) for ice and curling matches and Team Clendenan is no different. On the other hand, it is a tad sweeter to make the effort when you get to play with teammates with similar goals and to be able to work on your technique while bumpily sneaking out a win as well. Plato said that “The beginning is the most important part of the work” and judging by the preseason play, the girls in purple understand that they are at the beginning of a marathon and are very focused on the chance to become the best that they can be.

Welcome to the 2014-2015 Season girls!