WINGHAM – In 2020, the pandemic delayed Wingham from hosting the Provincial Elementary School Curling Championship. It returned these three years later and a local team came out on top.
The North Perth Westfield Elementay School team of Noah Schneider (skip), Brooke Schaefer (vice), Sofia Reinhardt (second), Reid Harwood (lead), and Clark Harwood (fifth) curled with 31 other teams from across the province over four days from March 30 to April 2, ultimately capturing the title during Sunday’s final. While there were many local clubs including teams from Wingham and Palmerston, others travelled much further, including Barrie, Kingston, Bobcageon, and Carpe.
The tournament divided teams into four conferences, each comprising eight teams. Each team played four initial games, all six ends in length.
Westfield initially lost its first game to a friendly rival in Palmerston 7-3, but were able to bounce back with a pair of dominating wins. In one game, they even had an “eight-ender” scoring all eight points in one end, practically equivalent in rarity to a hole-in-one in golf. To move on, Westfield had to face the home team of Maitland River. The game was close, tied 2-2 after four ends, but Westfield was able to seal its place in the playoffs with three point steals in each of the final ends.
Because of its initial loss, the team finished third in the conference and had to play a do-or-die playoff game against another Palmerston team. Like many of their previous games, Westfield was able to steal multiple points in multiple ends and won handily.
This vaulted the team into the Sunday playoffs where the top eight clubs would face off in a three-game tournament-style play. While they were guaranteed three more games, their final placing would be determined by their success.
In the Sunday morning game, Westfield was hit with the first real adversity since its first game. They gave up three points in their first end to Arthur, and had to claw their way back, gaining two in the next end, and stealing two more in the third. These ends turned the tide and Westfield moved on.
In their semifinal, the local club started with two points in the first end against Acadie of Kingston, but the tide quickly turned when Acadie scored four in the second end. However, as they had done all tournament, the Listowel and area crew stayed positive and calm, and battled back, and led by three coming into the final end, and were able to hang on for the win.
The Westfield team knew they were in tough in the final game. Their opponents, the KW Granite Club #1, had won 9-0 against the Palmerston team that had topped Westfield in the opening game. The Westfield team battled hard, and were able to steal single points in the first three ends.
KW pushed back in the fourth, scoring two, and it felt like momentum had shifted. Nonetheless, the positive energy of lead Reid Harwood and Reinhardt – with their smiles and funky dance moves – helped keep things light and rubbed off positivity on the rest of their team. The team continued to put rocks in play and bounced back with two in the fifth to lead 5-2 with one end to go.
KW was not going to go easy. In the sixth end, they had multiple rocks triangulating the house. Schaefer was able to clear one, but four red rocks remained close enough to score when skip Schneider made a solid freeze on the back rocks to force KW to a challenging shot they eventually did not make.
“He has a crazy, amazing understanding of strategy,” commented Westfield coach Jamie Weishar. Weishar has coached most members of the team for a few years as part of the Listowel Curling Club’s Junior Rocks program. Gavyn Harwood served as her assistant at the tournament. “He never asks for my help. He just did his own thing and it just kept working.”
While the Westfield team knew they had the skill to compete, they all were overcome with pride at what they had accomplished. They are very grateful for the support of the local Listowel and Palmerston clubs in helping include and teach them all they know.
All clubs were very grateful for the time the Wingham volunteers had placed not only into this tournament, but a mini-bonspiel in 2022 and this spring that brought the team together.
“They went into this tournament thinking they would just have a bunch of fun, and they did, and then it ended up that we got the eight-ender, and we won it. It was very unexpected and very crazy,” said Weishar. “It was emotional, because three of the kids are graduating to go to high school this year so they won’t be returning.”
“I’m just really happy for these kids. I was really impressed and thankful I was there.”
With files from Dan McNee
