RANKIN INLET
The Nunavut Curling Association junior boy's champions from Rankin Inlet will represent Nunavut at the national playdowns in Fort McMurray, Alta., Feb. 2-10.
Rankin Inlet junior curlers Jamie Airut, Arthur Siksik, Darren Makkigak and David Kakuktinniq, back row from left, and Alayna Ningeongan, Lori Akerolik and Angela Misheralak, front row from left, received some valuable instruction from curling coach Andy Jones (not shown) of Calgary, Alta., earlier this month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo |
It's the first time Nunavut will attend the event as a stand-alone team.
Iqaluit will represent Nunavut in the girl's division.
Rankin coach Kevin Bussey said the winner of the event will attend the world junior championship in Sochi, Russia.
He said the Canadian Curling Association changed its rules this past year to allow all provinces and territories to compete equally in 2013.
"There will be 14 teams competing this year and, at the end of the round robin, the top 10 will be seeded for next year," said Bussey.
"The bottom four teams will do a seeding at the beginning of the 2014 tournament, with two of the four making up the final 12.
"After this year, Nunavut will compete equally with the rest of the country at the juniors.
"So, you'll never know from year to year which two provinces or territories will be on the sidelines until that final seeding."
Bussey said the new format will allow the Nunavut juniors to play against some of the best curlers in the world.
He said eventually that will greatly improve the quality of play of young curlers coming out of Nunavut.
"You don't get better until you raise the level of your competition.
"Our guys are being realistic about going to the national, and they're not anticipating making any great impact this year.
"But it's a start for Nunavut and, hopefully, it will make an impact on more kids so we can keep building our junior component."
The national is also going to hold a mixed-doubles tournament for the first time.
A male and a female will be paired from two different teams after the round robin to compete in the format.
Bussey said the format will also be held at the world curling championship as a demonstration sport.
"The plan is to move it up from junior to see if it catches on," said Bussey.
"It should prove to be an awesome part of the overall junior event."
Coach and evaluator Andy Jones spent a weekend in Rankin helping the young curlers prepare.
Jones, 53, of Calgary, Alta., has been a curler for 20 years and a coach for 14.
He works with the Alberta Curling Federation as well as the Southern Alberta Curling Association.
Jones said his visit started as a coach evaluation, because Bussy needed to be certified as a competition-level coach to go to the nationals, but quickly expanded into a camp for the youths.
He said he spent most of the camp working on curling basics.
"Most of these kids don't have much experience, so it was almost like a learn-to-curl type of camp," said Jones.
"They picked up what I was teaching very quickly, and I was really impressed with how fast they came along.
"I don't know how many games they'll win, but they'll have a lot fun."
Jones said curling is a sport you can become reasonably proficient at in a short period of time.
But, he said, it's not a sport you can master quickly.
"It takes a lot of hours to start mastering this game, so you have to set your expectations accordingly.
"We took a look at strategy from a totally different perspective than I would with a team that played 100 games this year.
"We looked at ways to try and make sure the Rankin players won't end up looking at a whole mess of rocks during every end."
Jones said casual curlers or fans might overlook the importance of the strategic side of the game.
He said at higher levels, strategy is what curling is all about.
"If you don't have the strategy down against a good team, you're going to lose every time.
"Putting rocks in the right spot and understanding why you're putting them there is very hard to teach."
The Rankin players may have a difficult time adjusting to the ice surface in Fort McMurray.
Jones said rocks have to be thrown hard just to get them down the ice in Rankin.
He said they'll glide a lot easier at the national.
"They're going to have to really pull back just to stop the rock in the house.
"It's easier to adapt to slower ice than quicker ice, so that will be their challenge when they get there."
Jones said the first skill he concentrated on with the Rankin curlers was balance while throwing the rocks.
He said it's hard for any curler to make their shot if they don't have proper balance.
"Our top curlers throw their rock to a very small spot on the ice, or they hit a rock in a very specific place.
"So, if you don't have good balance, you're never going to hit that spot.
"The next thing is to make sure you're sliding in the right direction, and then you worry about releasing the rock straight so you can actually make the shot you called.
"But if you don't have proper balance, none of that even matters."
