Perhaps there will come a weekend when young Sudbury curlers do not excel against their counterparts from across the province.
We just haven't seen it yet.
Two weeks ago, a pair of teams with local content took part in the U18 Phoenix Slam at the Kitchener Waterloo Granite Club, with both northern entries still playing well into the afternoon on Sunday.
With Jamie Smith at skip and Kendra Carriere at second, the rink representing the Community First Curling Centre, that also includes Saultites Breanna Hamilton (vice) and Erin McLean (lead), opened and closed their seven-game schedule with a loss.
In between, however, Team Smith reeled off five straight wins, enough to vault the girls right into the final against Veronica Bernard of Elmira.
An 8-2 loss in that contest may have been disapointing, but posting a final record of five wins-two losses in their first competition of the season certainly wasn't.
Along the way, the Smith quartet would meet up with the Sudbury rink of Bella Croisier, Lauren Rajala, Piper Croisier and Elizabeth Huska, in the semi-finals, no less.
The Smith crew would earn bragging rights with an 8-1 win, but Team Croisier bounced back admirably, capturing the consolation final with a 7-6 win over Rachel Steele (Uxbridge Curling Club). Croisier scored three in the final end to earn the victory, posting an overall record of 5-2 that matched Team Smith.
Horgan rink
There is just no slowing down the Tanner Horgan junior men's rink these days. The foursome of Tanner Horgan, Jacob Horgan, Nicholas Bissonnette and Maxime Blais knocked off eight consecutive opponents last weekend in Toronto, including trimming Matt Hall 5-4 in the final.
While the Horgan lads, representing the Copper Cliff Curling Club, enjoyed some lopsided affairs, it was their ability to pull out a win in the close ones which was perhaps even more impressive.
Team Horgan captured three games by a single point, two in an extra end, including the championship final, while capturing two other contests by just two points.
By virtue of garnering the title at the U21 Men's Stu Sells Tankard, the Horgan rink earns an automatic berth in the U21 Junior Slam Series Players Championship next April, along with a spot in the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard from Oct. 6-10.
That men's open competition will include not only the local Jordan Chandler (Sudbury Curling Club) rink of Matt Dumontelle, Sandy MacEwan and Lee Toner, but also the likes of Brad Gushue, Glenn Howard, Brad Jacobs and 2015 champion Mike McEwen.
Fleury rink
Curling has been called a game of inches, and the Tracy Fleury rink (Idylwylde Golf & Country Club) was reminded of just that last weekend.
Despite being in every game, the locals finished with a round robin record of 1-3, one win away from at least pushing themselves into the race for a top eight tie-breaker berth in the playoffs at the K-W Fall Classic.
The ladies started slowly, but scored two in the seventh and a steal of two in the eighth to salvage a 9-6 win over Cathy Auld of Port Perry.
The tables were turned in game two, however, as Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga duplicated the late end magic of the Fleury rink in game one, besting the Sudbury crew 6-4.
Julie Tippin's Woodstock rink would keep Team Fleury on their heels, scoring three in the eighth end in posting a 7-5 win, and Jessica Schultz (St Paul, Minnesota) slammed the final nail in the coffin with a 6-5 extra end triumph.
