Team Clendenan

The Optimist Creed was written by Christian D. Larson who some say was the “founding father of positive thinking”. Included in his poem is a line which suggests that you “give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others” and the Oakville Optimist bantam open event embodied this theme.

Facing their first multi-game event of the season, the purple girls were tested in their endurance and their skills over the course of three days and when the dust settled they had beaten all but one female opponent (in the finals), stolen a game from one male opponent and narrowly missed wins with the remaining two boys teams. In fact, it was the climb to the finals that allowed the girls to respect their opponents so much that they gave everything they had to not only put up a good fight but to steadily improve along the way.

Aside from the runback triple ( from our fabulous second ) that turned the semi-final game on it’s head, the level of shot making from the purple team during the entire weekend was noted by the gallery and the opposition comments such as “finally, some good curling” was reason enough to celebrate. Furthermore, the loss in the finals didn’t dampen the mood because the girls had done such a good job of working together that the potential for the season seemed to inspire them to look beyond the final stones that didn’t cooperate. What more could you ask for, really, from a young team at an event promoting positivity?

Good things may come to those who wait, but better things will come to those who work for it.

Great job girls ! 

I’ve often heard spectators say “how do they do that” when watching Olympic curlers make run back triples, but I’ve also heard an equal number of coments with the variation “I want to do that” come out of the mouths of bantam hopefuls. The way to get from one to the other is an elusive blend of talent and hard work which in turn usually boils down to the nuts and bolts of hours and hours of practice. Booking themselves for a double practice with two hours on the ice in addition to a sports psychologist session off the ice as well is just one example of how hard working Team Clendenan is and how determined they are to learn and grow. It’s fascinating to see development in a group so young and in a game that is so hard and it’s not impossible to imagine that the girls will figure out a way to either out-think or out-perform their opponents as the weeks unfold solely because they are willing to put in the time. If every journey begins with one step, then the footprints the girls are making will be a string of memories that will eventually build a story worth telling, regardless of the destination or the outcome.

Keep stepping ladies . . . you’re bound to be admired for making the leap from spectator to participator and for pushing yourselves outside of your comfort zone.

S upport
M akes
I t
L aughable
E ventually

Win or loose, when you have friends to go through a curling game with you, there are very few places you would rather be. As it turns out, Team Clendenan managed to end their summer league on a high note with an 8-2 win over Purdy but more importantly, the girls are obviously building a support system that is preparing them for the days ahead when smiling may be a little harder to come by.
Keep calm and curl on ladies. They won’t see you coming!

Competitive curling teams have to get creative in September in order to secure practice ice. Only a few clubs can claim that they have their plants in action and conversely there is a lineup of eager teams vying for a sheet that isn’t spoken for. Team Clendenan is very familiar with the shell game, and when word got out that there might be some time at the end of the club’s open house, the girls jumped at the chance to take advantage of whatever time might be left at the end of the event. Patiently filling their time with off ice instruction in the lounge, and keeping one eye on the learner curlers ahead of them, eventually the girls were given the green light to stretch out and further work on their partnership for progress. As is usually the case, the girls were surprised to have their practice time evaporate so quickly and were it not for hunger pains, they might even have begged for more but all agreed that something was better than nothing.

See you at the final summer league game ladies!

Squaring off against a junior mixed team (Guilfoyle) proved to be a bit of a challenge this week. For the most part, the girls set aside results oriented thinking and were focused on the mechanics that they had learned at the high performance clinic this past weekend but in all fairness, there were also some hiccups in strategy which likely contributed to the 5-2 loss. Particularly in the final end, where all 16 rocks were in play, various technology devices were being put into action for teaching aids at a later time and yet the team still managed to come off the ice with smiles that suggested tomorrow was another day. Indeed.

Whether cognitive or not, the purple girls seem to be adopting the Tony Robbins mantra that “No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you’re still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying." With their mature attitudes in acknowledging how things could have been better they will probably keep one step ahead of those who think they know it all and sooner or later the mistakes will be less frequent and their progress will be tangible. In the meantime, their Engagement, Enjoyment and Support of each other will help their personal growth for the marathon ahead.

Bring on the fertilizer!