In the initial phases of getting ready for the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in 2024.
Players sharpen their skills in preparation for the tournament at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in March, with practices and exhibition games the order of the day.
Though it will be a few months before the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship, preparations are well on as Team Saskatchewan attempts to retain the national title it earned at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in the spring.
The competition will return to Canada’s Most Notorious City from March 22–29 at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre, and while the nucleus of the two rinks who represented the province in the event is still there, some new faces will be in attendance.
In an exhibition match on Sunday afternoon, both teams—new and old—were on the ice to improve and progress their games in a competitive environment against the Swift Current Special Olympics curling team.
Veteran wheelchair curler Rod Pederson, who qualified for the 2023 nationals without playing Saskatchewan 2, said, “It’s just good to get out and have a chance to play and practice.” “Our sole goal is to develop and advertise the game. Try it, you’ll enjoy it; there are a lot of people who could do it but are perhaps afraid to venture outside or whatever. While difficult, it’s quite enjoyable.
As a result of word spreading in that manner, several new players have decided to give the sport a try. Zahra Ehsani and Tara Hess from Regina, who went to the game on Sunday with Rod and Sheryl Pederson, are included in that.
Their entry into the game comes at a perfect moment considering the recent departure of a few experienced players.
Darwin Bender, an 11-time nationals competitor and four-time Canadian champion who finished second on Team Sask’s gold-medal winning rink this spring, together with Russell Whitsitt and Stuart McKeown, the team’s third player, have opted to retire from the sport.
Still, the Pedersons and longtime Team Canada rivals Marie Wright and Gil Dash—who last spring won gold with Sask 1 alongside Bender and Moose Gibson—will be back in competition.
Thank goodness, Team Sask may even end up with more players when everything is said and done, as a few players are rising through the ranks in Saskatoon in addition to Ehsani and Hess.
It would be interesting to watch how the boys from Saskatoon fit in, according to Lloyd, who has worked with them and claimed they’re good.
The procedure for choosing teams will mostly be same from the previous year. In an attempt to defend the gold medal at home and, ideally, make it an all-Saskatchewan final, coaches Lorraine Arguin and Lloyd Thiele will assemble two rinks with the finest possible combinations of players and positions.
The selection procedure for teams will mostly resemble that of the previous year. The aim of both coaches Lorraine Arguin and Lloyd Thiele is to assemble two teams of players and positions that best suit each other in order to defend the gold medal at home, preferably producing an all-Saskatchewan final.
Pederson will be looking to advance and make the playoffs, no matter who he plays with, after missing Team Sask 2 to a 3-2 record and narrowly missing the Championship Pool in 2023.
“I’m just excited to curl up and see what we can do, wherever I end up,” he remarked.
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