Young Huntsville curlers vie for a spot at the Hit, Draw, and Tap Provincial Championships

Main photo (from left) Huntsville Curling Club junior curlers Isaac Mills, Colleen Hill, Joshua Markell, Serena Delmore (behind Joshua), Jack Rowe, Faithe Delmore, Andrew Walisser, Wilson Trenholm, Madeleine Rheubottom, and Haven Polischuk (Photo courtesy of the Huntsville Curling Club)

Young curlers from the Huntsville Curling Club (HCC) are hoping to represent their club when the Hit, Draw and Tap (HDT) Provincial Championships come to Huntsville early next month.

On Tuesday, December 12, the Huntsville Curling Club hosted a Hit, Draw and Tap (HDT) skills competition for kids ages six to 13. There were eight participants from the club’s Little Rocks program, for ages six to 10, and 12 from its Junior program.

Clubs across the province have been running HDT skills competitions with each participant repeating each skill five times for a total score that is compared against others across the province. The top 10 curlers in each age group will qualify for the Hit, Draw and Tap Provincial Championship to be held in Huntsville on Saturday, February 3, 2018 as part of the 2018 Recharge with Milk Men’s Tankard. They’ll compete for “the biggest trophy you have ever seen.”

“Last year, there were over 450 participants from Ontario. The kids compete as individuals and perform three different shots — a “Hit”, a “Draw” and a “Tap”. The difficulty of the skills are modified based on the age of the child,” says Kristen Hamilton, HCC Youth Program and Club Coordinator.

Madeleine Kay, a member of the Little Rocks program, says “curling is fun because you get to play games and throw rocks and you get to meet new friends.” Izzy Andrigo, also a member of Little Rocks, adds that it’s fun since you get to play all positions in the game. Both eight-year-olds started curling for the first time last year and know all of the positions.

A Junior curler, Wilson Trenholm, age 11, has been curling for two years — he wanted to try the sport and then discovered he really liked it. He describes curling as “an experience on ice where you need to stabilize yourself on the ice.” Wilson thinks that curling is a great sport for kids to do and to grow into. “I want to continue to play as I get older.”

If Wilson qualifies for the HDT Provincial Championships he wants to have fun, to try his best and will never give up.

Qualifying participants will be notified in early January. Stay tuned to see if any young Huntsville curlers will be competing. Good luck to all the participants.

The Little Rocks and Junior programs are offered throughout the winter on Tuesday nights from 4:45pm – 6:00pm. If you are interested email [email protected] for more information.

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