A curler that grew up in Birch Hills is on one of the teams that will compete at the 2018 Viterra Scotties Women’s Provincial Curling Championship in Melfort.
Kara Thevenot, a lead, will compete with Team Silvernagle along with skip Robyn Silvernagle, third Jolene Campbell and second Dayna Demers at the Jan. 2 to 7 event.
“It’s always exciting to get a direct berth so you don’t have to have the pressure of qualifying and traveling that extra time,” Thevenot said. “It’s just nice to have that out of your way and know you’re qualified and just focus on practicing and preparing for the week at provincials.”
They will compete against Team Martin, Team Ashley Howard, Team Eberle and Team Barker, among other yet to qualify.
Thevenot, the daughter of David and Terri Kilden, grew up in Birch Hills and went to school there from Kindergarten to Grade 12. She now lives in Prince Albert.
“My parents both curled and were very involved in the curling rink in Birch Hills, so it’s just one of those things, when your parents are there all of the time, you go,” she said. “It was something I was interested in and started from when I was young. I spend many hours at the rink practising, that’s for sure.”
The curler said she learned a lot about the sport from her dad, the icemaker at the rink and, later on, from coaches while she was in the juniors.
“Lots of it, honestly, is just getting in reps and getting in practising on your own,” she said. “I actually watched lots on TV too and learned lots of strategies that way.”
Thevenot said it will be nice to compete close to home.
“I’ve always had a lot of support from the Birch Hills rink and it’s nice to play close to home too, where lots of people supported me when I was young can come watch as well.”
Thevenot played with a few teams out of Saskatoon when she started out in women’s, but took two years off due to knee surgery. By 2015, she was ready to get back into the sport. She contacted a few people and then Demers asked her if she wanted to play lead on a team that also included Silvernagle and Cristina Goertzen.
“It was a pretty big adjustment for me because I had skipped in junior, lots of third, lots of seconds, so playing lead was big but I knew it was a good opportunity to get on a good team and I knew these girls well from playing against them.”
Last year, they also added Gerald Shymko as their coach.
“He’s just been fantastic for us,” Thevenot said. “He’s calming, he knows his strategies so well and he’s been a great help to us for sure.”
This season, Goertzen decided to step back, so they added Campbell, who won the championship in 2016.
Thevenot said the team has been practising, having attended seven world curling tour spiels this fall and playing in exhibition games.
For the championship, the team is aiming for victory.
“We lost the provincial final last year, so we’re looking to rebound from that and have a good, consistent week again. We played really well last year and, unfortunately, had a few misses early in the game and the game got away from us,” Thevenot said. “We’re aiming for those green jackets and not settling for anything less.”
