Two teams from the Kelowna Curling Club begin pursuit of U18 national titles this weekend

Photo: Contributed

Team Rempel - From Left to Right: Coach Wendy Cseke, Elle Walker, Gwyneth Jones, Parker Rempel, Megan Rempel.

This is a big weekend for the Kelowna Curling Club on the national stage.

Two teams from the KCC will be in Saskatoon to begin their quest for medals at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships.

The week-long event at the Nutana Curling Club begins on Sunday, February 16. Two national champions – one male and one female team – will be crowned the following Saturday, February 22.

It’s the second trip to the U18 nationals for Team Rempel. The Kelowna girls’ contingent includes Skip Megan Rempel, Third Parker Rempel, Second Gwyneth Jones and Lead Ella Walker. They didn’t make it to the playoff round last year but are looking for a better result this time around with more experience under their belts.

On the boys’ side, Team Jaeger will be competing on the U18 stage for the first time. Skip Owen Jaeger, Third Spencer Rempel, Second Noah Wielgosz and Lead Brenden Hruschak are likely to be among some of the youngest players in the field. The Kelowna players are aged 13, 14, and 15.

Despite their youth, they have an impressive resume already, going undefeated to capture the provincial provincial championships after winning gold in U15 at the BC Winter Games.

Last year’s Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships, held in Ottawa, saw Newfoundland & Labrador (skipped by Simon Perry) and Manitoba (skipped by Shaela Hayward) take home the two titles. Neither skip is in the competition this year, so a new winner is guaranteed.

At this championship, 21 teams from each gender will be divided into pools of seven. They’ll play a six-game round robin, with the top four from each pool advancing to a championship bracket. For the pool teams that don’t advance to the championship round, there will be two more “ranking” games, which will help determine the seeding at next year’s event.

“The Under-18 Nationals are an amazing opportunity for our top young curlers to compete against their peers from all across Canada,” said Helen Radford, Curling Canada’s manager of NextGen Programs. “For young curlers, once they have experienced a week of great competition and fun, it motivates them to work hard to get back to the national stage.”

Games will be streamed on YouTube by Curling Canada beginning with Sunday’s 12:30 p.m.(CT) draw.

For scores and schedules, visit http://curling.ca/scoreboard

Photo: Contributed

Team Jaeger - From Left to Right: Coach Travis Wielgosz, Brenden Hruschak, Noah Wielgosz, Spencer Rempel, Owen Jaeger, coach Tyler Jaeger.