Team Clendenan

“I’m a strong believer that if you practice like you play, little things make big things happen.”

Tony Dorsett

If you were to get a 66% on a school test you probably wouldn’t be overly proud to bring the results home to your parents but the paradox of curling ( in the early bantam season ) is that the same performance result is actually something to celebrate.

In theory, curling is a winter sport but a good portion of the events begin long before there are any traces of winter weather. In fact, the conundrum of most curling clubs not having ice to practice on until November means that most teams are still finding their sea legs when they square off against competitors in September. Essentially you hit the ground running and in a best case scenario you figure things out faster than your opponent. Consequently, the player statistics are usually a little rough around the edges and team purple was no exception. The good news, however, is that there were other accomplishments that turned their focus away from their C+ grade and toward an exciting year ahead.

Beginning with a round robin, the good guys faced teams Duguid, Titkai and Bartlett and secured a lone position at the top of the leader board with a record of 3 and 0. Relying heavily on their summer fitness training for endurance, they held on to yet another win in the quarter final against Pickett and morale was high as they prepared for a rematch against Bartlett in the semifinal the following day. When the time came, and out of the gate with hammer and a deuce, things were looking promising but the exchange of blanks and singles afterward quickly turned the game into a nail biter. So much so, that an extra end was required to ultimately determine the victor of the 3-3 tie and as with most fish stories, the last rock got away.

Dusting yourself off after a big loss is tough, and facing the statistics that hint at missing practice takes maturity. It would be easy to wallow in the 66% and place the loss squarely on the shoulders of the rotten stats number, but if you did, you would be missing the wonderful parts that should keep you coming back for more. If nothing else, the girls racked up wins in four out of five games but there is also the notable that in three of those their opponents conceded early and in two, ties needed to be broken with the last stone in an extra end. Even more amazing, is that out of a total of 50 points that were scored for and against throughout the tournament, 37 were earned by Team Clendenan. The quick math on that is 74% (woo hoo!) and there’s still one more secret weapon that emerges when you turn the frown upside down . . . 66 looks an awful lot like 99 with a different perspective!

Celebrate what you accomplished ladies because you have a lot to feel good about. It was a fabulous start to the season and you’re A+ effort will convert those stats before you know it!

Success may come before work in the dictionary, but for the purple crew, the work began months ago to build their chances of curling success in the months ahead. Splitting time between off-ice fitness training, mental toughness preparation and on ice mechanics would definitely pinch into the summer freedom of most teens, but for these athletes with lofty goals it is the only ladder that will get them where they want to go. Some might even argue that it’s easier to get up for training when it’s sunny and warm than when it’s snowing and thirty below but in any case, Team Clendenan is very much focused on the marathon of the 2015-2016 season and preparing accordingly. The excitement is building as the girls look forward to their first competition the weekend of September 18th and together with their coaches Katherine Brown and Byron Scott they are armed with a positive attitude and the power of purple. Go get ‘em girls!

If polled, most would agree that summers are made for play. School is out, the days are stretched with daylight and even during the times when you have to work, the load just seems a little lighter. With that said, there is still a bit of a divide between the definition of work and play. Mark Twain seems to think that “work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and play consists of whatever a body is NOT obliged to do.” Which begs the question . . . Is dry-land curling training work or play? If your version of work is anything more strenuous than bending your elbow with a cool summer drink then watching Team Clendenan at their first summer fitness session would have made you nauseous. Hours of cardio, strength training and more or less pushing themselves to their physical limits could easily fit under the title of work yet by Twain’s definition; none of the girls were obliged to be there so the boot camp must have fallen in the play category. Either way, the girls dutifully followed Laura’s orders (their physical trainer) and for the most part, they smiled as if they were having fun. Even coach Katherine jumped into the creative exercises to cheer the girls along. The 2015-2016 curling season may be in its infancy, but in case there was any doubt, the dedication of Team Clendenan to the upcoming season began the day after their last season ended. Whistle while you work ladies!

For those who have not had the pleasure of being a spectator or an athlete at the Ontario Curling Provincials, the experience would be best described as Olympic in nature. Complete with traditions including a bag piper, flag bearers and a parade of champions, the recognition as a finalist amongst the top eight teams in Ontario is coveted and the emotions that go with it are very real. It would be understandable to be intimidated by the “bigness” of the event but when you have nothing to lose, it’s a little easier to take it all in and Team Clendenan intended to do just that.

Knowing that their competitors were primarily two years older than they were and immersed in talent from as far away as Niagara Falls and Ottawa, the purple plan was to hold tight to the routines that had brought them success throughout the year and to concentrate on one game at a time. In a seven game round robin format over three days, endurance would be a factor for success but the upside was that the pressure would change from fear of elimination to striving for consistency right across the event. Essentially it would all boil down to the wise words of Yoda “Do or do not. There is no try”.

And do they did. . . in the first game and the second game and then they did it again in the fifth, the sixth and were one rock shy of doing it in the seventh game as well until the leader board glowed with Team Clendenan in a solid fourth place finish in Ontario. There was honestly nothing more that the girls could have done to make the fans more proud and the whispers about the team having two more years to compete for the top spot were hard to miss. At the end of the day, with or without Yoda, the girls in purple checked off the last of their goals for the year and the smiles couldn’t have been any bigger.

May the force be with you in 2015/2016!