“The biggest thing going into this spiel for us was learning more about each other.”

Apparently vice Britney Malette (quoted above), skip Mia Toner, second Justine Toner and lead Clara Dissanayake have realized very quickly that there is a great deal of potential within this new junior women’s curling team.

Despite having only one summer practice together as a team, the group who have all competed already at a national championship posted a 3-1 record in pool play at the Stu Sells Junior Tankard in Barrie last weekend before beating Daniela Aucoin (9-4 in QF), Jenny Madden (4-3 in SF) and Julia Markle (5-4 in final) to come out on the winning side in launching the 2023-2024 season in style.

“Our biggest goal was to have good communication on the ice and finding out what everyone likes and doesn’t off the ice,” said Malette, a 20 year-old native of Thunder Bay who is attending Laurentian University (2nd year – Behavioural NeuroScience) and joined the team this past summer as Valérie Ouimet (now at University of Ottawa) decided to focus more heavily on her schooling and other priorities.

“The win was not our first priority.”

Not that they will complain about it.

Malette had often been on the other side of this coin as she and the Toner rink met frequently as the top two teams in their age group in northern Ontario. “We played against each other multiple times and we would see each other everywhere,” noted Malette. “We experienced nationals together (2022 in Oakville) which was cool because we got to know each other better through that.”

“Throughout the years of curling with my team in Thunder Bay, they (Team Toner) were always our biggest competitor once Team Croisier aged out of U18. When our team was developing, we always said our goal was to beat them or be competitive with them. Having them ask me to play was a confidence booster, for sure.”

But with both Mia Toner and Britney Malette having extensive experience as skips, something had to give – with the well-spoken newcomer making the transition to third rock thrower this year. “The biggest challenge for me is learning how to sweep again,” said Malette with a laugh.”

“It’s been a few years and my muscles are definitely out of shape. I’m still re-learning how to sweep and not at my strongest.”

That said, there are also many aspects of the sport where the background that Malette brings to the table might be invaluable as she and Toner look to lead their NCUCC (Northern Credit Union Community Centre) rink. “Playing the back end, I can use my knowledge to help Mya,” said Malette.

“We can have great conversations about shots and tolerance and what to do next if things go wrong – or if things go right. We call very similar games. We are definitely in the same mindset when it comes to strategy.”

Next up for the team is a busy month of November, heading to Ottawa from the 3rd to the 5th for the OVCA Junior Superspiel and then making their way to Dundas two weeks later, site of the U20 Imperial Slam.

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Now a couple of years into his role as Curling Manager and Head Ice Technician at the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club, Mike Assad is thankful that his primary sport of choice is now being steered in a positive direction at a facility that has enjoyed a streak of curling excellence these past twenty years or so that few can rival within the NOCA (Northern Ontario Curling Association).

“What gets me the most pumped about this year is the support that we now have for curling from the board and management here,” said Assad, a Thunder Bay native who is extremely well-known within the curling circuit in Northern Ontario. “All of our leagues are at par or more from last year; most of our leagues are up in teams.”

Given the effects of Covid-19 combined with some serious discussion over the past few years about the on-going viability of curling at the Idylwylde, it comes as no surprise that Assad is looking far and wide in terms of initiatives that can help to re-establish his club within the sport locally.

“Really, we would like to grow in all areas,” he said. “Our first goal is to obviously build membership, but we also want to start hosting some bigger events again. We’re just trying to fill the place with as many bodies as possible.”

And in trying to do so, the group has shown a willingness to think outside of the box, introducing associate memberships ($300/year) for curlers who might already be committed to other clubs but are looking to supplement their schedule one more time a week, or allowing folks to curl in three leagues for the price of two.

Naturally, the club will also look to the traditional Little Rocks program, an Idylwylde mainstay for years and years, to build the foundation on that next wave of young curling talent, grooming youngsters such as the 13 year-olds on the Sophie Perreault rink that is competing in the Tuesday All-Sorts circuit this winter.

“They are still pretty young and they might have some struggles early, but they are going to learn a lot from this,” said Assad. “The goal is to try and be the best that they can be and they are going to learn from playing better teams.”

And the Tuesday night league at the Walford Road facility will provide just that.