Both Northwest Territories teams are certainly among them.
At a combined age of 53 years, the NWT, ahem, men鈥檚 team, is one of the youngest ever to compete at the national championships.
Skip Sawer Kaeser, 14, is joined by third Tristan MacPherson, 13, second Joe Sturgeon, 13, and lead Garrett Minute, 12. The first three list their 鈥渙ccupations鈥� in the player profiles as Grade 8 students, with Minute in Grade 7.
They play out of the Fort Smith Curling Centre.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only one boys鈥� team in our town, so it鈥檚 mostly playing against adults. Here, it鈥檚 like these guys compete against professionals [on tour] and we鈥檙e much further back than they are,鈥� said Kaeser, who has curled for seven years, but not against the competition most are seeing here at Archie Browning Sports Centre and the Esquimalt Curling Club.
鈥淥ur goal is to have fun and learn, because we know we aren鈥檛 going to win many games, unless we do run into another young team. It doesn鈥檛 frustrate me much, I just use it as a positive.鈥�
The four play in a men鈥檚 league on Wednesdays with four teams and Friday is a fun night, where players randomly make up teams.
The NWT women are in a similar dilemma, only with a twist.
Skip Zoey Walsh, third Julie Squires-Rowe and second Nicole Griffiths are all 14-years-old and lead Katherine Lenoir is 16. Their added difficulty is their home Hay River Curling Club has faced renovations this year and will not be ready until next December.
That means a lengthy drive to and from any form of practice, venturing to the Fort Smith club.
鈥淚t鈥檚 two and a half to three hours through ice and snow [each way]. It鈥檚 dark when we leave and it鈥檚 dark when we come back,鈥� said coach Trudie Walsh. 鈥淲e get two hours of practice, maybe once a week. But it really hasn鈥檛 been once a week because of Christmas and New Year鈥檚 in there. We try and make it as much as possible, but it鈥檚 not a lot of ice time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 looking like next December, so we won鈥檛 have any ice time till then either,鈥� she said of the three-sheet facility, which required a major refit. 鈥淚t had timed out, really, and needed a rebuild. They held a plebiscite with the town on whether they wanted to rebuild on a new site or tear this one down and rebuild on the old site.
鈥淭he majority wanted it kept where it was, so that鈥檚 what ended up happening. They tore down and we ended up losing two seasons.鈥�
The women had played just six games this season, which were essentially their playdowns.
So, like the young men, this championship becomes a valuable learning tool.
鈥淐onsidering with what we鈥檝e had to work with this year, I鈥檓 pleased with what they鈥檙e doing. We came to learn and we鈥檙e accomplishing the goals we had set,鈥� said coach Walsh.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough, but we鈥檙e having a good time and learning,鈥� said her daughter, Zoey, the skip.
While Kaeser鈥檚 rink was winless on the junior men鈥檚 side, Walsh scored two in an extra end against Newfoundland on Tuesday night to win 7-5 and pick up her first win of the event. Both teams now head into the seeding portion of the championship, used to determine the pools for the 2018 Canadian juniors in Shawinigan, Que.
