By Darren Lum

Published Feb. 28 2017

There is optimism for next year for the Red Hawks curling program.
Although the Red Hawks girls’ curling team of Alanna Casper vice Emily Parish second Emma Casey and lead Ania Smolen did not advance from the Kawartha championships held in Omeemee earlier this month their coach Alexis David is looking forward to next season.
With the exception of skip Alanna Casper who is graduating there will will be five players in the Red Hawks program who will return.
“The bonds that were made this year are only going to continue to grow and strengthen the team the longer the girls play together” she said.
The five players are Emily Parish Emma Casey Ania Smolen Jessica Byers and Lena Haase.
David said she and the returning players are sad to lose Casper.
“But we know she will continue to support HHSS curling no matter where life takes her” she wrote in an email.

David hopes Mackenzie Tidey and Destiny Wilson–Wells join the Red Hawks team next year. Both players competed with Byers and Haase who finished fifth at the 2017 Gore Mutual Schoolgirl Provincial Championships. This team was the second entry for Haliburton Highlands Secondary School.
At Kawartha the team was winless but the “girls started strongly taking three in the first end. They lost the next couple ends putting them behind and diminishing their spirits a bit. They continued to fight and give I.E. Weldon a challenge but in the end Weldon’s skip made some great shots that were hard for us to counter. We lost by 9-7” she said.
The first game in Kawartha’s against Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School started slowly. The team did not recover and lost.

“The girls had a great season together and enjoyed the times they had. Winning the Lil Burns Memorial Bonspiel was a highlight of the season. They won all three games by a landslide and took home a trophy and medals” she said.

With files from Alexis David