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ECS curlers had strong showing at regionals

Estevan Comprehensive School curlers returned from regionals with one victory and two losses. It was the first time the team made it so far, and according to coach Mike Keating, they showed a very strong game.
ECS curling
From left, coach Mike Keating, skip Jamison Keating, third Abby Renkas, lead Jessica Haygarth, alternate Hanna Mercer and 2nd Parker Lavoie. Photo submitted

Estevan Comprehensive School curlers returned from regionals with one victory and two losses. It was the first time the team made it so far, and according to coach Mike Keating, they showed a very strong game. 

“We had the best time out there in Whitewood,” said Keating. “Really good experience… Kids did amazing. We worked all year to get to regionals. We got there, so everything was fine and exciting.”

A number of teams from the southeast that made it through districts earlier met in Whitewood at the end of the last week. None of the teams was familiar to the ECS players. 

“We played against some of the top teams in Saskatchewan this weekend, definitely amazing experience,” said Keating."

In the first game ECS team lost to Regina’s LeBoldus Catholic Highschool and dropped to B-side, but they took it back during the second game against Greenall High. 

In their third game, they faced another Regina team, the O'Neil Catholic Highschool, and ended up losing, which at that point meant that the tournament was over for them. However, Keating was really pleased with the team’s game and skills. 

“My kids couldn’t play better. They were super excited to play the game. I’ve never seen them curl so good,” said Keating, noting that they will continue building up their skills as a team to become even better in the future. “We came up against teams that have been playing together since Grade 9. We came up against teams that had four Grade 12s on their team, where we have a couple of Grade 10s and a couple of Grade 12s … So we keep playing together next year and they each get better and better every year.” 

There are still a few games left in the season, which will wrap up until the next winter in March. Keating hopes they will continue to see a lot of interest in years to come. 

“This year we had a lot of kids come out for curling. We were able to have three teams for curling this year. And hope next year more kids come out, so we can even have more teams next year. It’s such a great program to be in. And for us to stay focused, go bonspiel all year, win districts, move on to regionals were the highlights of the year and it was definitely an exciting year,” said Keating.