They spend a ton of their waking hours at the curling rink. All their practice and playing time has given them the chance to compete for a B.C. high school championship.
This week, Diamond Wilson and her College Heights secondary school team of Alyssa Connell, Bailey Eberherr and Sadie Brummund will be on the ice in Kamloops for provincials. In an eight-team, round-robin event, the Wilson rink will play its first three games on Thursday. Games will continue on Friday and a champion will be determined on Saturday.
Wilson and company qualified for provincials when they claimed a zone title in Prince George in January.
The girls are young -- just Grade 10 and Grade 9 students at College Heights -- but they certainly aren't green when it comes to curling. Wilson and Connell both play in two leagues at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club and all four team members are involved in the club's junior program. Their high school coach is Lisa Bailey and she wouldn't be surprised to see them sweep to some serious success at the B.C. bonspiel.
"They have really good strategy and they're straight, straight shooters," Bailey said. "I'm very hopeful that they'll be in the top half [of the final standings].
"They love the game and they just mesh well together," Bailey added. "They are very enthusiastic and it's cool to see."
On Thursday, College Heights will take on Brooks of Powell River, South Kamloops secondary and St. Thomas More of Burnaby. On Friday, College Heights will face Mount Elizabeth of Kitimat, Selkirk of Kimberley and Chilliwack secondary. The College Heights crew will play its final round-robin game on Saturday morning against Delta's Seaquam secondary.
The Selkirk rink is skipped by Alysha Buchy and coached by Tom Buchy, one of the most respected players in the province and a guy who has competed in multiple national championships.
If there is a tie for first place at the end of round robin, a playoff game for the B.C. banner would be required.
A Prince George girls team has never won the provincial high school title. Boys rinks skipped by Derek Errington (College Heights, 2004), David Johnston (1975) and Gary Wray (1958) did sweep to high school championships.
For Wilson and Connell, the high school playdowns will serve as a perfect lead-in to the Tim Hortons B.C. Juvenile Championship, March 7-10 at the PGGCC. Both players will skip their own teams at that tournament.
