This year, the Lady Red Hawks fielded two curling teams and both were successful in their event streams.
The first team, led by skip Mackenzie Tidey, vice Chelsea Flynn, second Holly Parish, lead Hannah Lewis, and alternate Jocelyn Chumbley entered the Gore Mutual event stream.
They won the Gore Zones, earning them a berth into the Gore Regionals, where they also earned a first-place finish. Winning the regional qualifier meant the ladies were off to Pembroke for the Gore Provincials.
Unfortunately, in the first game, Tidey experienced a knee injury, sidelining her for the rest of the competition. Flynn stepped into skip position, while alternate Kaylee Warren, provided by the Pembroke Curling Club, stepped in as vice. Although the ladies played their best in the remaining round robin games, they didn’t make it into the playoffs.
Tidey won the Sportsmanship Award, being chosen by her peers.
“Mackenzie played half of the first game, but her impact as a leader, a curler and an athlete, her genuine smiles and camaraderie were so prevalent, that without even going on the ice, her peer group bestowed upon her the highest honour,” staff advisor Cynthia McAlister said.
The second team, led by skip Jessica Byers, vice Lena Haase, second Savannah Byers, lead Lewis, and alternate Flynn also did very well this season.
The team had to make a few positional adjustments due to Tidey’s injury. Haase stepped in as vice, Byers moved up to second and Lewis came on as lead. The ladies won the Kawartha Championship earning them a berth into COSSA. At COSSA, the ladies were silver medalists. They battled hard missing gold and a berth to OFSSA by one rock.
“Gore Zone Champions. Gore Regionals Champions. Gore Provincial Finalists. Kawartha Champions. COSSA silver medalists. When HHSS Red Hawk curlers enter a curling club, other teams know who we are,” said McAlister. “One might think that the Red Hawk success is due to a strong high school program, but that is not the case. The Red Hawk Curling success is directly linked to the volunteers of the elementary youth program that is largely funded and run by the Haliburton Curling Club.”
For years now, these dedicated individuals have been bussing young people from JDH every Tuesday after school from October to March, providing the youth with snacks, the initial equipment, coaching the fundamentals, and organizing bonspiels. McAlister thanked: Hugh Nichol, Wanda Stephens, Bob and Anne MacNaull, Terry Lawrence, Dave Ablett, Dave Ogalvie, Russ Duhaime, Ron Draper, Lolita Mitchell, Linda Boore, the Aldoms, Cathy Chumbley, Dan Byers, Aggie Tose, the ice makers and everyone else involved.
