By the time the likes of Tracy Fleury (then Horgan) and Kendra Lilly and Mia Toner reached their final year of U18 eligibility (formerly Bantam curling, back in the day), they were all very seasoned rock-throwers, having tested themselves against some of the very best teams in the province, time and time again.
Due to both the pandemic as well as a numbers crunch in certain pockets of youth curling, that same opportunity has not arisen nearly as simply for the likes of Kelton Tellier – which is a big part of the motivation to finding a way to put together a local crew that will compete at the upcoming NOCA U18 Curling Championships that kickoff in Long Lac on January 3rd.
In fact, in a field of ten girls teams and six rinks representing the young men, Team Tellier is the only Sudbury-based squad in the mix – and even then, it’s hardly an exclusively nickel city based collection of talent.
A 17 year old grade 12 student at Marymount Academy, Tellier will serve as vice-skip to her younger sister (skip Kameron Tellier), with Samantha Digiglio at second, Karleigh McNaughton at lead and Gilliane Nadon serving as alternate. Also 17 years old, McNaughton hails from New Liskeard while Nadon does not have to leave home for the event, given that she is a long-time resident of Long Lac.
“We’ve put together a team of individuals who enjoy curling, so we plan to have a lot of fun with that,” said Kameron Tellier, who served as vice for the Alex Buttery Marymount foursome that captured the SDSSAA banner last March. “There’s going to be some great competition – we’re excited for the challenge.”
“I’m looking forward to getting to know our team better and, of course, we’re going to try our best and see where that takes us.”
Given that this will mark the first bonspiel ever as a team for this group of five, there is not a lot of engrained familiarity already in the mix. The decision to create Team Tellier occurred this fall, with the back-end connecting with McNaughton thanks to what amounts to a free agent forum on the NOCA website.
While they were aware of Digiglio from the local high-school circuits (she is at Lasalle), the Tellier clan were not aware that she still had U18 eligibility until last month. Putting together a local entry for the NOCA U18’s has clearly taken a little work.
“There’s nobody around my area that is around my age that curls,” said McNaughton, a home-schooled Tri-Towns native who participated in the 2023 playdowns as a member of a rink from North Bay. “I’m like the only girl my age.”
Parental discussions began and an October meeting would lead to a chance to at least get these three girls on the ice, together. “I feel like we bonded really easily; we are all kind of like pals,” stated McNaughton. The starting four will be meeting Nadon for the very first time when they arrive in northwestern Ontario next week – something of a bonus in the eyes of head coach Kacey Tellier.
“It’s nice to know that we have a spare, especially when you are playing so far from home,” she said. “Plus, it’s nice to meet other people.”
And while this year might be all about the experience for the graduating crew, the skip is looking forward to adding to a skill-set for the position that has already grown notably in the past few years.
“I enjoy the pressure of making the last shot – and I’m a lot more comfortable now with any shot,” said Kameron. “I feel that any shot, I can make, if I am feeling great, then and there.”
(Team Tellier has been generously sponsored this year by Dave Kangus and Hardrock Mine Developers, as well as Emco and Eddie's Restaurant - and are also very appreciative for all of the assistance that Mike Assad has provided.)
Meanwhile, at the same time those provincials will be unfolding (January 3rd to 7th), a much more seasoned field of seven teams, including a pair representing the Northern Credit Union Community Centre will be in North Bay for the NOCA Masters Championships.
The well-established quartet of Robbie Gordon, Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong are expected to be in the mix as a team to beat, while Chris Gordon (very distant relationship only to Robbie), Michel Mayer, Paul Deschene, Tim Lloyd and Norm Lafleur hope to pull off an upset or two to get to the playoffs.
Even the Sault Ste Marie based entry donning the colours of the Community First Curling Centre is ripe with Sudbury content as Bruce Munro (skip), Al Harnden (vice), Mark Borgogelli (second) and Duncan Bell (lead) also take a crack at earning a trip to Chicoutimi in April.
Down in Oshawa, the junior men’s team of Brendan Rajala, Jackson Dubinsky, Jesse Crozier and Adam Wiersema are part of an impressive array of young curling talent that has assembled for the WFG Canadian Junior Cup – with a potential trip to Switzerland on the line for the highest finishing Canadian entry.
The mix of Sudbury and Thunder Bay curlers opened play with a 7-1 win over Team Hastings and are now facing Matthew Prenevost from Mississauga as this column is being submitted (Rajala was beaten 8-4 and then lost 7-1 to Team Hocevar.
January will be an ultra-busy month for the NOCA crew as the Stratton Curling Club (some 400kms west of Thunder Bay) plays host to Mixed Doubles (January 10th to 14th) and Fort William serves as home for the wheelchair curlers (January 18th to 21st) before Little Current gathers all eyes of the northern curling fraternity with both the Men’s and Women’s banners set to be doled out at the end of the month.
