by Darren Lum

Published Feb. 13 2018

Four local youth curlers are ready for the future after finishing first at the Lindsay Under-15 Bonspiel this past January.
Jacob Dobson’s rink which included Micah Aldom vice Logan Mallette second and Jonah Aldom lead representing Haliburton and the Haliburton Curling Club won the points-based Ontario Curling Association sanctioned event by scoring 38 points and winning both of their games held on Jan. 13 at the Lindsay Curling Club sponsored by John F. O’Reilly Real Estate Brokerage.
A win was worth 10 points while each end won was worth one point and then each point scored was worth a quarter of a point. Haliburton finished ahead of second place Oshawa by two and three-quarters of a point.

The team was still a little bit in awe of their accomplishment weeks after the win.
However they acknowledged being happy and satisfied about coming through with the victory.
Coach Darrell Dobson said this bonspiel was a statement win for the team signalling they should move forward together this year and next year.
None of this success is possible without the support from the local club he said.
“The Haliburton Curling Club has done an excellent job with youth curling. The success the team is having is a direct result of all the hours of coaching that Hugh Nichol Bob MacNaull Russ Duhaime and others have done in the after school program now run three days a week (two for elementary age and one for high school age). The executive at the club also has been great about having the youth curl in the evening leagues and that is something that not all clubs do. Everyone at the club is generous with these youth curlers – the high school athletes have learned a lot about the sport and about sportsmanship from the entire Haliburton curling community” he wrote in an email.
This team has been together since last year when they finished in the top 10 at the Timbits Elementary School Championship.
Micah was satisfied with the result particularly for who he did it with he said.
“It felt pretty good for our team. Especially since this is the same team that placed in Timbits last year” he said referring to the sixth place out of 79 rinks in the province.
The team’s skip Dobson is also the lead for the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School Red Hawks who earned a berth to the final eight at the Gore Mutual Provincial High School Curling Championship finals recently. He said winning in Lindsay prepared him for the mental and physical challenges of the Gore regions.

The bonspiel’s competition boasted a field of eight teams from all over southern Ontario such as Uxbridge Peterborough Bobcaygeon and Lindsay.
It also included fellow Haliburton club curlers Savannah Byers Hannah Lewis Jocelyn Chumbley and Abi Lewis and Wilberforce rink led by skip Chelsea Flynn who competed with  Ezra Hill Holly Parish and Sydney Little. Byers’ rink finished sixth while Flynn’s team earned the fourth place prize for losing its first game but had a (11-5) “high second game.”
The young Haliburton squad are keen to see if they can carry this momentum into Ontario Curling Association's under-18 provincial qualifier on Feb. 23 at the Sutton Curling Club in Sutton. There are four provincial qualifiers in different communities the same weekend for a trip to the provincial final (location yet to be set) on March 14.