Jake Horgan could be forgiven for wanting to put his feet up and relax a bit.
From March 3 to March 12, he would play second on the Northern Ontario team skipped by his brother, Tanner, joining forces with veterans Darren Moulding and Colin Hodgson and qualifying for the playoffs in his first ever trip to the Tim Hortons Brier.
From March 15 to March 19, he would be throwing the final stones for the Laurentian Voyageurs men’s team at the U Sports Championships in Sudbury, helping lead the locals to a semi-final berth before settling for fourth place in the field of eight teams at nationals.
Then, from March 21 to March 26, he was partnered with his older sister, Tracy Fleury, the NOCA duo coming ever so close to cracking the playoff bracket of 12 teams among the 36 pairings that were part of the 2023 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.
Even for a 22-year-old (he turns 23 later this week), this is a very exhausting schedule.
“I would be ready for a fourth national,” exclaimed Horgan with a laugh last Friday.
No, he wasn’t kidding.
“After a couple of days off, I got pretty sad that I had no more competitive curling for the year.”
Make no mistake – competition fuels the young man in his pursuit of curling excellence, a fact that was made abundantly clear in our discussion.
“I just love competing,” Horgan noted. “To have nothing but competing for three weeks straight, I just loved it. I couldn’t get enough of it.”
This despite some heartbreaking losses along the way, some disappointing outcomes mixed in with a whole lot of memorable highlights. “I definitely enjoyed every second of every event, for all three events,” Horgan stressed.
In no way do these statements seem the least bit insincere.
Jake Horgan loves being out on the ice, participating in a sport that he loves. He will have fun – always has, always will – and that’s a given.
“Some of my earliest memories are just of going to the rink with my dad and my brother, just the three of us,” he said. “Sometimes we would have the whole rink to ourselves. My brother and I were often just goofing around more than actual practicing at that age, but it was so much fun.”
Sports are almost always fun to begin with. It’s the element of success that then drives higher and higher expectations that can create the mental tug of war – and it certainly didn’t take long for the Horgan lads to taste success.
“I think a huge moment for Tanner and I was when we first made Junior Nationals,” recalled Jake. “Tanner was 15 and I was 13. We kind of knew that we could play against 20-year-olds, even at a young age. But being able to beat them at the most important event of the year, that was pretty cool and special.”
Sure, the net effect was that Team Horgan would enter ensuing trips to the U20/U21 Canadian Championships as one of the teams to beat, capturing silver twice and bronze on one occasion. But not quite breaking through to the very peak of the mountain only served to motivate the young curler even more.
“I never went through a stretch where I did not like curling,” said Horgan. “There were times in my late teens where I was wondering if hardcore competitive curling was really for me – but I always kind of spiralled back to hardcore competitive curling.”
Although he is known as much for his quick wit and constant smile off the ice as he is for his peel weight that can jeopardize the end walls of most curling venues, Horgan will easily find his happy place even in the midst of elite competition.
“I definitely like keeping all of the off-ice stuff really fun,” said the young man who also showed a real interest in volleyball, at one point. “I think all of our previous teammates will attest that no matter how our events are going, we always make sure we are having fun off the ice, doing things together.”
“No matter how your curling is going, you can still enjoy your time with each other.”
That mindset was a constant as he curled with his sister two weeks ago, a treat that he does not often experience.
“Mixed doubles is absolutely something I see doing more of in my future,” said Horgan. “It’s an Olympic sport so should four-person curling not work out, it’s another avenue to get to the Olympics.”
To be clear, the four-man team remains the priority. This past Saturday, Team Horgan announced that Ian Morrison, who has competed for several years out of Manitoba but was born in Dryden, is stepping in as lead to replace Colin Hodgson.
All of which has Jake Horgan more than a little excited.
“I think I learned a lot this year at the Brier, the nationals and the two Grand Slams that I played,” he said. “I learned a lot on how to practice and how to bring my A game more consistently.”
For someone who lives for competition, this is a very good thing.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
