THUNDER BAY — A young rink from the Fort William Curling Club will get to compete on a major stage in February.
Twelve-year-old skip Josh Hari, 15-year-old third Jacob Curtis, 13-year-old Kyle Haynen and 13-year-old Hudson Kelly qualified for the 2024 Ontario Winter Games after winning a qualifying event in Fort Frances last weekend.
“It was a feeling of, ‘wow, we’re going to be playing in the Ontario Winter Games in our hometown and our home club,’ Hari said during a practice session on Wednesday afternoon. “We just couldn’t believe it.”
This is the second year that Hari, Haynen and Kelly have curled together competitively. The new addition to their rink is Curtis, who lives in Terrace Bay.
He practices every day in his hometown and makes the trek down the highway to join his teammates for Friday night mixed league play.
“I’m pretty fortunate to be able to play with these guys,” Curtis said. “I’ve been practicing for what feels like my whole life to be able to do something like this and it has all worked out perfectly.”
Curtis said while the team has only been together for a few months, their communication is strong already.
“I think that’s one of our biggest strengths,” Curtis added. “We’re all great curlers obviously, but we’re pretty balanced with how we play.”
Although he’s a young skip, Hari is already used to the challenges that come with calling the game and throwing the last rock, as he’s been playing in that position since he was six years old.
“I have gone against older skips in the past and I know that they might have an edge with experience,” Hari said about facing older competition at the Ontario Winter Games.
“But we’re hoping that we can pull this out.”
The team, who are coached by Hari’s dad Jon, is slated to compete at the under-18 provincial playdowns in Longlac from Jan. 3-7 with the hopes of qualifying for the national championships, which are slated to take place in Ottawa from Feb. 5-10.
Those events are tune-ups for the Ontario Winter Games, where the Hari rink hopes to use the familiar surroundings of the Fort William Curling Club to its advantage.
“Having the hometown cheer us on is going to be great,” Kelly said. “I feel like that’s going to make us less nervous and get us more fired up for the games.”
Claire Dubinsky’s Kakabeka Falls Curling Club squad will also be competing at the Ontario Winter Games.
Dubinsky, third Rylie Paul, second Bella McCarville and lead Lily Ariganello, also clinched their spot in Fort Frances last weekend.
The Ontario Winter Games curling event runs from Feb. 23-26.