Despite having never picked up a curling broom before, four friends and volleyball players from George McDougall High School swept their way to a spot in the Alberta Schools Athletic Association's (ASAA) provincial championships this winter.
Grade 12 students Kiera MacDonald, Sydney McClain, Megan Smith, and Kenadee Karpala were all members of the Mustangs senior girls' volleyball team last fall. After the 2022 volleyball season wrapped up in late November, the four seniors decided to form a curling team.
“It was just a fun thing,” said MacDonald. “We actually tried to join [curling]…last year, but because of COVID, it was quite difficult to schedule ice rentals and things like that. As soon as it came around this year, we knew we wanted to do it and be a part of the team.”
While they had never tried the sport before this school year, the four friends learned the necessary skills quickly during twice-weekly practice sessions. In their first bonspiel, they ended up placing third at the Rocky View Sports Association divisionals behind teams from W.H. Croxford and Cochrane High School.
“It was definitely a rough start, but we got the hang of it and there was a huge improvement from where we started to where we are now,” McClain said.
The 17-year-old added the proximity of the Airdrie Curling Club to George McDougall High School came in handy, as it was easy enough for the girls to cross the parking lot after school to go practice.
“[Curling] was definitely harder than it looked, but we did a really good job picking it up, McClain said. “It’s insane now to watch it on TV – I could never do [those shots].”
After finishing third at divisionals, the Mustangs' student-athletes' next bonspiel was the South Central Zones tournament. They played well enough to advance to the gold-medal match, where they took on local rivals W.H. Croxford.
According to MacDonald, it was a tough game, and the more-experienced curlers from W.H. Croxford ultimately came out on top to book their berth in the provincial championships as the South Central Zones' senior girls' representative.
“Croxford is a very competitive team,” MacDonald said. “I think they were provincial or zone champions last year, so we definitely had our work cut out for us. Overall, it was just a fun, friendly game. The rivalry between George Mac and Croxford has always been very friendly and they were super nice girls.”
However, as the team quickly found out after the match, the South Central Zones senior girls' bonspiel was handed a wild card spot for the ASAA championships this year, which meant both the first- and second-placed teams qualified for the provincial bonspiel.
McClain said the Mustangs' coach informed them after the loss to Croxford that they also had qualified for provincials, which are slated to take place in St. Paul from March 1 to 4.
“We were all shocked about the opportunity,” she said.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs' quartet likely won't actually compete at the upcoming provincials, according to MacDonald and McClain, as three of the four members of the team also play club volleyball and there is an important tournament that same weekend.
“The timing doesn’t work out, unfortunately,” said MacDonald, who plays alongside McClain for the Calgary Canuck Stuff Volleyball Club, while Smith plays for a team called the Aviators.
Though they likely won't be taking to the pebbled ice for George McDougall again, the volleyball players-turned-curlers agreed it was a great opportunity to try a new sport this year, and make it as far as they did.
“I’m just super proud of our team for how we did, MacDonald said. “We didn’t think we’d get this far and it was a really good season that I’ll definitely remember.”
