MELFORT — A team of curlers from Melfort represented Saskatchewan at the 2024 Special Olympics Winter Games and brought home a gold medal.
More than 800 athletes attended the games in Calgary from Feb. 27 to March 2.
Coach Brian Kjelshus said he was proud of the entire team. Team Saskatchewan consisted of skip Daniel Fiedelleck, third Scot Earl, second Mitchell Moore and lead Ysabelle Senecal. Rodney Mitchell was an alternate.
When the Melfort Curling Club was named host of Curling Day in Canada just a week earlier, the team was given a sendoff that they won’t soon forget. TSN did a special feature on Fiedelleck.
“It made the entire team feel very good before we left with so many people that came out, it was very special for everyone,” Kjelshus said.
Fiedelleck has played in five national games and joined Special Olympics in 2004 (15 years as an athlete). This was his fifth Canadian Winter Games and competed in the sport of curling. Fiedelleck won gold in 2016 in Corner Brook, N.L. and silver twice at a Winter Games. Most recently, Fiedelleck won bronze in the 2020 Winter Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Earl joined Special Olympics in 2003 (16 years as an athlete). Earl and Moore have also been to five Canadian Winter games in curling.
Ysabelle Senecal started curling a couple of years ago.
Brian Kjelshus has coached since 2014. He first started helping and has always enjoyed curling himself. This was his third national games he has attended.
Rodney Mitchell, their alternate, has been to five national games.
Kjelshus said that Melfort has been named Team Saskatchewan in curling to the national Special Olympics since 2000. In the curling event, everyone must play every game, including their alternate. Team Fiedelleck played three games in their division and won all of them, there were two playoff games which consisted of six-end games. Their final game crowned Team Saskatchewan gold medal winners.
The coach said he was most proud of how the team worked together and everyone got along. He said Fiedelleck is a decisive skip and wastes no time deciding his call and putting his broom down. He said the Games give a lot of players the opportunity to see many people from across the country where they have now gained friendships during these national games.
“The truth is that we have 1,000 curling clubs in Canada that we keep tabs on, and Melfort has been one of the most innovative and inspiring clubs of the past couple years. It’s a small community with big ambition. And they are proving that curling can be a sport that not only builds community but transcends generation and culture,” said Bobby Ray, Manager of Curling Club Development at Curling Canada said during the Curling Day in Canada celebration.
