Chantele Broderson, 17, represented Alberta and skipped her team to a silver medal at the international curling tournament.
The Optimist U18 International Curling Championships were held from April 1st-5th in Edmonton. Teams from across Canada, the United States and Japan competed.
The championships were held partly at the Jasper Place Curling Club and the Saville Community Centre, which is Broderson’s home club for the season.
Appearing as Team Alberta, Team Broderson, skipped by Broderson, with Kate Goodhelpsen as third, Brenna Bilassy at second, Madysan Theroux as lead, were matched up against 12 teams from all over North America and beyond, many of which they hadn’t previously met on ice, which added to the excitement.
“It really was fun to meet all of the other people and face many different opponents,” she said of the championships. “We made a lot of friends.”
Team Alberta went undefeated in their pool playing draws against Manitoba, Maryland, Newfoundland, B.C, and Japan, landing a 5-0 record in the round robin.
“We didn’t have any runaway games,” said Broderson. “We played a few really close games and played two extra ends.”
In the semi-final, Team Alberta went on to beat Team Quebec, playing an extensive extra end. It was again down to the wire in the final game, but Team Alberta came up a little short losing 4-1 to Ontario.
“In the last one, we missed a few too many shots,” said Broderson.
The team well represented the province and walked away at the end of their season with some solid hardware, a silver medal and an inspiring 6-1 record.
This was the last juvenile competition (under 18) that Broderson would attend as next year she will be playing at the junior age level and likely with a brand new team.
This season Broderson was invited to join the University of Alberta (U of A) pre-varsity team specifically as a skip, slotted in to replace the previous team skip Danielle Schmiemann.
Last year, the U of A team saw Broderson compete with her Lacombe-based team at the junior provincials and her fate was sealed.
Team Broderson previously competed at the Northern Alberta Curling Association Juvenile Provincials at the end of February, which was the qualifying competition for the internationals and determined who would appear as Team Alberta.
After skipping with the elite team in Edmonton and finally sporting the coveted Team Alberta jacket, Broderson is aiming to accelerate her career in the junior circuit (under 21). She plans to attend the University of Alberta next year and join a varsity team.
She is also not ruling out competing in the Winter Olympics or the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in the future.
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