Prince Albert Curling Club prepares to host top U18 curlers in Saskatchewan

Curl Sask Facebook photo. Sweepers from Lloydminster’s Team Reiniger guide a rock down the ice during the 2023 U18 Curling Provincial Playdowns in Moose Jaw. The 2024 U18 playdowns are scheduled for Dec. 27-30 at the Prince Albert Curling Club.

The top high school curlers in Saskatchewan will be in Prince Albert after Christmas with the goal of representing the province on the national stage.

The U18 Boys and Girls Curling Provincial Playdowns begin on Dec. 27 at the Prince Albert Curling Club. Event Coordinator Stasia Wisniewski said it’s great to have such a high-profile event in Prince Albert.


“In the past five-six years, we haven’t had a U18 provincial (tournament) up in the north, so it’s really exciting to bring all these teams to the Prince Albert Curling Club,” she said.

This year’s event will feature nine girls and six boys teams aiming to qualify for U18 Nationals, which will be held down the road in Saskatoon from Feb. 16-22. Due to past performances, Saskatchewan is allowed to send two teams in both the boys and girls categories.

Wisniewski said young curlers across the province are eager for the chance to represent Saskatchewan on home ice.

“The buzz with the U18 curlers has been going since it was announced,” she said. “Knowing that we’re going to get to send a total of four teams to a national (event) in our home province is so exciting.”

On the boys’ side, the defending champions are back with a few new pieces. The Martensville Curling Club’s Team Derksen, consisting of skip Dylan Derksen, third Logan Sawicki, second Tyler Derksen, lead Gavin Martens, and coach Brad Kennedy, won last year’s tournament with a 9-2 victory over Team Snow from Saskatoon in the final.

This year, they’re back with Tyler Derksen skipping. Martens also returns, while Matthew Olson, Hudson Heistad, and coach Corey Martens are all new.

The rest of the field includes Tem Heisler out of the Moose Jaw Curling Centre, Team Kitsch out of the Martensville Curling Club, Team Parker out of the Nutana Curling Club, Team Weiss out of the Esterhazy Curling Club, and Team Robson out of the Martensville Curling Club.

The defending champions from the Highland Curling Club in Regina will also make a partial return on the girls’ side. The team of skip Shawna Simpson, third Lauren Speidel, second Makena Bailey, and lead Katelyn Speidel captured last year’s title with a 7-3 victory over Team Remeshylo in the final.

Simpson and Katelyn Speidel are back again this year, while Leah Beausoleil and Clare Meachem are the new faces. Gaylene Simpson returns as coach from last season as well.

The rest of the field includes Team Rochefort from the CN Curling Club in Saskatoon, Team Hogeboom from the Moose Jaw Curling Club, Team Bauldic from the Lloydminster Curling Club, Team Semeniuk from the Twin Rivers Curling Club in North Battleford, Team Todd from the Swift Current Curling Club, Team Fonstad from the Estevan Curling Club, Team Laventure from the Spiritwood Curling Club, and Team Wood from the Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon.

“The draw format is all determined based on number of entries,” Wisniewski said. “We have been running our under-18s and under-20s as open events for the past number of years, but just with COVID, our numbers have gone down, and as we’re rebuilding those numbers we’ve opened it up to make it easier and more accessible for kids to have the chance to play and represent their province.”

The tournament runs from Dec. 27-30 in Prince Albert. The opening draws are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 27, and 9 a.m. on Dec. 28-29, with the evening draws scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 27, and 7 p.m. on Dec. 28-29. The finals are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Dec. 30.

All results will be available on curlsask.ca.

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

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