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Curlers on international stage
Inuvik teams crowd favourites at championships in Mississauga

Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, April 12, 2012

INUVIK
Two teams from Inuvik travelled all the way to Mississauga, Ont. to compete in an international curling championship.

NNSL photo/graphic

Skip Carina McKay-Saturnino gets ready to throw a rock during the 2012 Optimist International U-18 Curling Championships in Mississauga, Ont. - photo courtesy of Patrick McConnell

While they may not have finished on the podium, they represented their community and their territory with pride and took a lot away from the experience.

"I thought it was really fun, and it was a good learning experience for curling," said Deklen Crocker, 12, who has been curling for five years.

Two teams of Inuvik youth represented the Northwest Territories at the Optimist International U-18 Curling Championships from April 4 to 8.

The championship was started in 2001 by U.S.-based Optimist International, which has a mandate to "bring out the best in kids."

The girls' team – made up of skip Carina McKay-Saturnino, lead Hilary Charlie, second Rayna Vittrekwa and third Karly King Simpson – finished the tournament with a record of one win and four losses. Their win came in their last match against team Michigan, which the Inuvik girls won 8-5.

A representative from the girls' team could not be reached to comment as of press time, because the team was scheduled to arrive back in Inuvik sometime Wednesday.

Chris Nerysoo skipped the NWT boys' team, with lead Connor Sullivan, Crocker – who played second – and third Kaidan McDonald.

While the boys' team did not manage to win any of their games, tournament organizers said that they were a crowd favourite throughout the championship, particularly while playing team Alberta.

"They managed to force Alberta into an extra end and everyone at the curling club was rooting for them!" Patricia Bandurka, media chair for the championship, told the Inuvik Drum in an e-mail.

"They made all our shots, so our coach wasn't mad with us. They did everything that they needed to do," said Crocker about losing 7-6 to Alberta.

The boys were also very close to beating the New Brunswick team, said Crocker.

In the eighth and final end, skip Nerysoo decided to try to use the last rock to try to hit one of their opponent's rocks on its side so it would push one of the NWT's rocks onto the button.

"It picked or something," said Crocker. "It was touching the button but it needed to be, like two more inches (to score the point)." They lost that game 6-5.

In a gesture of friendship, both the boys' and girls' teams exchanged jerseys with other teams at the tournament.

This is done to remember players they've met, and expand jersey collections with shirts they think look cool, said Crocker.

"What an incredible experience," said Al Kersey, Optimist International committee member. "By the end of the week, we felt like family and we were. The kids were so eager to go home and help mentor the next generation of curlers."

– with files from Katherine Hudson

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