WAWOTA - Last Saturday, Steve Laycock and his provincial curling team conducted a clinic for 27 young curlers that registered at the Wawota Curling Club.
The participants were between eight and 17 years of age and travelled from towns such as Esterhazy, Maryfield, Whitewood and Oak Lake, Man.
Skills that were taught included sweeping, weight control, technical skills and curling strategy. The day ended with pickup games and a supper for all.
Laycock hails from Saskatoon and his team consists of third Shaun Meachem, second Chris Hiachert, and lead Brayden Stewart. Meachem and Hiachert live in Swift Current and that is where the team is base. Stewart is a teacher at the Wawota Parkland School and lives in the town.
He and fiancée Chaelynn Kitz, who also assisted with the camp, have entered mixed doubles at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championships later this spring.
Laycock is a multi-time Saskatchewan Tankard champion, and his rink has qualified for this year’s SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial competition, which is being held at Affinity Place in Estevan from Feb. 1-5.
Local curler Kristen Murray was the organizer of this event.
“The Wawota Curling Club was extremely pleased to have Team Laycock … take part in this camp and we appreciated the good turnout. Our young curlers learned a lot and really enjoyed themselves. In fact, Chris Hiachert mentioned to me that Wawota has a larger junior curling program than the entire city of Swift Current.”
The Wawota Curling Club also has an excellent school curling program. Led by experienced mentors such as Carla Weatherald and Duane Lamontagne, Wawota has excelled at many provincial school curling events. Wawota won the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s female curling championships in March 2022.
“Good luck to Brayden and the team at the Tankard. All Wawota and area will be cheering you on. And here’s hoping you can come back and conduct another successful curling clinic next year,” said Murray.
