After more than a year of waiting, the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School 2019-20 boys curling team has received its championship banner.
It arrived March 11, honouring the team for earning a provincial gold one year ago in the Ontario School Curling Championship.
The award would have normally been provided last spring, but the pandemic delayed the hand-off. The banner will be hung at the Haliburton Curling Club. Skip Jacob Dobson said it was a long year waiting.
“It’s great to see it come back to town,” Dobson said. “Just being able to see it come back and having everything we’ve done together as a team.”
The team of Dobson, Liam Little, Corin Gervais and Owen Nicholls went on a run last season, winning zone and regional competitions to play in the provincial contest.
They also earned a spot at the provincial OFSAA competition, but officials cancelled the event due to the pandemic. Ontario School Curling Provincial Championships president Carlos Gregorio presented the award.
He said the pandemic delayed the banner production. It was ready by December, but another lockdown delayed the presentation even further. The team also lost out the chance to play this season, with cross-school competition cancelled. Coach Darrel Dobson said they may have been able to go on another run this year if they had the chance.
“We definitely all hoped to play going into this year,” the younger Dobson added. “We were all disappointed when we heard we couldn’t for sure … It’s been difficult.”
The skip said the group has gotten out for some practices and one event but has not been able to play together nearly as much.
This was the last chance for graduating Dobson and Little, though Dobson said he would look to compete at the post-secondary level.
“We’re definitely looking forward to things getting better and being able to get back to playing the game we love,” he said.
