THUNDER BAY — Josh Hari has been curling for eight years.
In Thunder Bay, that’s really no big deal.
Josh, however, is only 11 years old. On top of that, as skip, he’s the unquestioned leader of his team, which next week will head to North Bay for a shot at the Northern Ontario U18 boys play-downs and a chance to represent the region next month at nationals.
No one on the team has hit their 15th birthday yet, the squad featuring lead Hudson Kelly, second Kyle Haynen and third Hunter Torkkeli.
The first two checking in at 13, while Hunter is the oldest of the bunch, at 14.
Josh, whose father Jon introduced him to the sport and coaches the team, said competing at a provincial-level championship is a dream come true.
“It’s going to be very interesting going there. But it’s going to be a good learning experience,” he said.
“It means a lot to go to a provincial championship, to represent Northern Ontario is pretty big.”
The youngster has all the confidence in the world, looking to follow in the footsteps of the Dallas Burgess foursome, who won the title last year before aging out of U18s.
“It’s a very tough field, but I think we have a good chance,” Josh said.
Kyle Haynen, who turned 13 on New Year’s Day, said he got involved in curling by chance. His mother saw an ad on Facebook for Thunder Bay youth curling. He thought it sounded cool, so he wanted to try it out.
Four years later he’s about to head to provincials.
“Not in a million years,” he said, asked if when he first took the ice he thought he’d one day be competing for a Northern Ontario title.
“To say the least, I’m pretty nervous.”
To put those fears out of his mind, Kyle said he and his teammates are exercising the three Ps.
“Practice, practice and practice,” he said.
“I hope we do as well as we could for one of the younger teams in the tournament.”
Hudson Kelly, who gets each end started for the team, said he loves having fun with people and making new friends through the sport, which he started after searching for a winter activity to keep him busy in Thunder Bay’s snowy season.
But when his skip was looking for a few teammates to put together a competitive team, he jumped at the opportunity.
He still can’t believe their off to provincials, but isn’t putting too much thought into it.
“We just like to have fun and we have fun with each other and can be friends together. To be successful we just have to have some fun,” Hudson said.
The Northern Ontario U18 Curling Championship begins on Jan. 11 at the North Bay Granite Curling Club, with five teams entered on the boys’ side. Hari kicks off the championship on Thursday night against North Bay's Team Julien-Horne.
On the girls’ side, eight teams are registered, including Rylie Paul’s team, which curls out of the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club.The top two clubs on each division move on to nationals.
