Wolverines Pledged to Hurry-Hard!

Written by admin on 29 January 2011

Elaine Milks throws her stone right on target and the sweepers work to keep it moving at speed. Photo by OntarioNewsNorth.com

Curl-A-Thon Successfully Raises Equipment & Travel Funds

Emilio Knee and Aaron MacGregor prepare to sweep the rock in. Photo by OntarioNewsNorth.com

MANITOUWADGE, ON – Saturday, January 29th while the rest of Manitouwadge was crazy with Hockeyville Fever, North Shore Secondary Schools Athletic Association (NSSSAA) Curling Championship hopefuls from Manitouwadge High School were also in the Recreation Centre but on the Curling Ice, earning their pledges.

The 2011 MHS Curling team has both senior and junior students, led by Coach Shawna Patterson, who have done plenty of footwork in recent weeks collecting pledges for today’s Curl-A-Thon, a 6 hour curling marathon. Each student was responsible for raising a minimum of $60 in pledges while some raised as much as $150; this to ensure they would have the necessary funds for new sliders, stopwatches and team jackets as well as covering meals and accomodations for their upcoming trip to Longlac (Greenstone) where they will be competing in the NSSSAA Curling Championship.

Athletes on the team have high expectations, drawing much of their motivation from the fact that the Wolverines have not brought home an NSSSAA Curling banner in approximately 11 years – not since Coach Shawna Patterson was herself curling on the MHS team as a senior – perhaps she holds the key to the Wolverines claiming the banner once again? “It’s been 11 years and so the pressure is definetely there for us to bring it home” said Kyle Campbell, a true Wolverines athlete who also plays on several other MHS teams including Senior Boys Basketball and Volleyball. Coach Patterson did not want to make any predictions but did sound confident when sharing that the team had been spending plenty of time on the ice “They’ve been curling in the mixed league plus today as well” said Patterson. The mixed league has the team competing against adults every week while this day’s event had them on the ice for 6 consecutive hours, this, in addition to their regular practices, will certainly be reflected in their skill-level at the end of February when NSSSAA arrives.