Junior curling team in Manitoba playing at Canadian World Qualifiers

WINNIPEG -

A new junior curling team out of Deer Lodge Curling Club is making quite the commotion after only starting to play together this spring.

Jordon McDonald (skip), Alexandre Fontaine (lead), Elias Huminicki (second), and Reece Hamm (third) are playing at the New Holland World Junior Qualifiers, underway in Saskatoon.

McDonald, who has curled competitively with Fontaine for five years, decided to add Hamm and Huminicki, some of his biggest competition, to his team.

“I thought it would be good for me and Reece to form a team together, and it was a really good idea,” McDonald said. “It worked out really well. Elias was on one of the top teams in juniors for a while as well.”

The young men each bring approximately a decade of curling experience with them, and since they formed in the spring, they’ve won four of the seven events they’ve competed at.

“We’ve been playing really, really well these last couple of weeks,” McDonald said. “I think we are on a 17-game win streak. So, you know we are feeling pretty good going into the World Qualifier.”

“It’s massive,” Hamm said. “It’s a world-qualifying event, so you win this, you become Team Canada. You head off to the Worlds in Sweden, so it’s huge. We are super excited and want to do our best.”

With two younger players, the team is counting on the veterans to show them the ropes.

“Me and Reece, it’s our first time,” said Huminicki. “Jordon and Alex, the skip and lead, they’ve been there before, so they’ve had the experience and kind of know what it’s like. To us, it’s kind of new, so we are open to what it’s going to be like and we are excited.”

With a big start since coming together, the team is looking towards a bright future in the sport.

“Hopefully, we win more this year, and next year, if we move on to men’s or juniors, that goes well for us,” said Fontaine. “One of my dreams has always been to play in the Olympics, so hopefully, one day, we can make that dream come true.”