Shawna Jensen formed her rink this season in part through discussions on Facebook, so it was only natural that her introduction to her new coach was through a series of text messages.
The 19-year-old skip from Victoria is the youngest in the field at this year's B.C. Scotties women's provincial curling championship at the Prince George Golf and Country Club. Jensen formed a new rink for this year and, along with Merit Thorson, Jade Shultis and Tatianna Simicic, qualified for provincials on her first attempt.
The team was so new they didn't yet have a coach, so when they secured their provincials berth Jensen tasked Thorson with finding someone who could help out. Thorson eventually got in contact with Wayne Colliss of Prince George, a longtime coach at the juvenile level.
"He's been great so far," Jensen said. "We've learned lots and he's helping us out, keeping us together."
Since the team is based on Vancouver Island, their first contact with Colliss came through a series of texts, which helped both players and coach get a feel for what everyone wanted to accomplish. Now that they're together in Prince George, Colliss said there's still an adjustment period, but he's pleased with the progress the team has made early on in the bonspiel.
"As the team goes on, they seem to be getting better and better," he said.
Both Jensen and Colliss each have their own experience at the provincial level, just not at the Scotties. Jensen skipped her team to a third-place finish at the juniors (under 21) last last month in Chilliwack, while Colliss has coached in nine juvenile (under 16) provincials. Earlier this month he coached a Prince George rink skipped by Alyssa Connell to a zone title in Williams Lake and a berth in the B.C. Winter Games.
Although Jensen dropped her first three games so far in Prince George, some of the shotmaking that got the rink to the Scotties has been on display. She calls a fearless game and is willing to try just about any shot.
On Tuesday afternoon, that included a beautiful angle-raise in the third end with her first shot, which set up a draw for three against Tracey Jones of Prince George. But leaving lots of rocks in play also allowed Jones to score often and the teams traded the lead seven times with Jones eventually pulling out a 12-7 win.
The games was close until the last rock, when Jensen's draw attempt to score one and force an extra end was heavy, giving Jones a steal of four.
That experience and others have taught Jensen that mistakes at the women's level are more costly than at juniors.
"The women here are just so much more precise," she said. "There's less of a margin for error than there is in juniors. Sometimes [in juniors] you can still pull it out but in women's you've got to be right on your mark."
She joked that part of Colliss' job this week is to keep her in check as she calls the game, while Colliss sees his role as keeping the team focused as they work to raise their game to meet the competition.
"Just to keep them upbeat, keep the momentum going," he said. "Make sure they're comfortable and relaxed."
