Team Daniels

What a year it was for the Team Daniels girls curling team! Comprised of Seaquam Secondary students, skip Sarah Daniels, third Megan Daniels, second Megan Bourassa, lead Heather Sinclair, and their coach Ernie Daniels, the team completed an amazing season which included titles in three major championships. The dedicated training for competition for these talented young ladies began last spring when the team committed to a summer of training. The weekly training sessions helped to hone the skills necessary to compete at an elite level. This preparation paved the way for success for this Delta Thistle Curling Club team as they earned gold medals at the BC School Sports Curling Provincial Championships, the BC Juvenile Women’s Provincial Championships and the Optimist U-18 International Curling Championship. The journey began in January as Team Daniels captured the Lower Fraser Valley curling title, qualifying them to represent their zone at the BC School Sports High School Curling Provincials in Kamloops.

The team played flawlessly, dominating the best high school teams. They finished the Championship with an impressive 7-0 record, and proudly hoisted the Alcan trophy as Provincial Champions. But rest time after this competition was short as the next week they went to Prince George for the Provincial Juvenile Championships. After the earlier victory in the high schools, the Daniels team was now recognized as one of the favourites and they lived up to their reputation as they went through undefeated. After finishing 3-0 in pool play, they managed a 6-2 semi-final win. In the final, Team Daniels faced a talented rink from Kamloops, Team Fisher. Things did not start well for the North Delta foursome. Half way through the game the team trailed 5-0! However showing the competitive spirit required to compete at this level, they roared back and eventually pulled out a 9-7 victory. Two provincial titles in two weeks! With the victory in the Juveniles, the team qualified for the prestigious Optimist U–18 International Championships which brought together outstanding teams from across Canada and the United States as well as Japan. Once again this young squad rose to the occasion. In the toughest overall competition they had faced all season, Team Daniels finished pool play with 3 wins and 2 losses narrowly qualifying for the medal rounds. In the semi-final game they managed to subdue a previously undefeated Saskatchewan squad 5-2, setting the stage for the tournament final against Team Alberta. With the score tied 2-2 in an extra end, the fans were in for a dramatic finish. With only one rock to play there were two stones, one from each team, narrowly touching the button. Grade 8 skip Sarah Daniels and her team made the decision to not disturb the rocks in the house, and throw the last rock through the house. On a measure, Team Daniels earned a dramatic victory as their stone was one cm closer to the button.

According to Megan Daniels “hard work and extra practice made the team successful”. We can only agree! Congratulations on an outstanding curling season.