The Kimberley Curling Club (KCC) hosted the 2025 Safetek Profire BC U18 Curling Championships from Dec. 19 to 23.
"We were thrilled with how everything went," said KCC general manager Blair Jarvis. "We knew that most teams were travelling a long way to get here and unfortunately they had to deal with some adventures with the snow we had last Wednesday.
"We wanted to make sure that we gave them an experience that they would remember, so we spent a lot of time on the ice, we wanted to give them a great social experience off the ice as well and we heard from a number of curlers that it was the most U18 event that they鈥檝e attended and so we鈥檙e really proud of that fact."
The event had 12 teams competing on the Boys' side and seven Girls teams.
On the Boys side of the competition, Team Jaeger out of Kelowna beat out Team Hrynew in the finals and for the Girls, Team Arndt from Vernon beat out Team Rempel to win the gold. With these wins, Team Jaeger has earned a spot at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships, which will be held at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, Sask. from Feb. 16-22, 2025.
Teams Arndt and Rempel will both be headed to the Nationals.
Team Jaeger was made up of coaches Tyler Jaeger and Travis Wielgosz, Lead Brendan Hruschak, Second Noel Wielgosz, Third Spencer Rempel and Skip Owen Jaeger.
"We really worked hard this year, this year we really wanted to win," said Skip Owen Jaeger. "We put in a lot of work and it just feels really, really good to win and for all that hard work to pay off. We鈥檙e really, really excited, it鈥檚 our first National event, first U18 provincial win so we鈥檙e really excited."
Team Arndt is Coach David Arndt, Lead Alicia Evans, Second Ivy Jensen, Third Bethany Evans and Skip Ava Arndt.
"We鈥檙e just super excited," said Skip Ava Arndt. "It took us a couple years to get here, but the hard work payed off and we can鈥檛 believe it, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 sunk in yet. It鈥檚 been a lot of hard work from us and the coaches and the parents. It鈥檚 been amazing."
Jarvis coached Kimberley's Team Reynolds, who went on to win bronze.
"We had set a target of making the playoffs and really happy with how the boys came together," Jarvis said. "They had a couple of games with a tough start and battled back and so the resilience they showed and how they stayed positive, there were a lot of great things we can take away from that. And the bronze medal, we were just thrilled to do that.
"We saw Team Jaeger on the boys side and Team Arndt on the girls side as well 鈥� if we want to get to that level next year, we have some things to work on and it鈥檚 great to see the high level of curling in this province and so I think we鈥檝e come away very motivated as well about what we need to do to get better if we want to be a little higher on the podium next year."
Jarvis extended his gratitude to the over 50 volunteers who helped out before, during and after the event, including members of the Cranbrook Curling Club.
"We鈥檒l take some of the learnings from this event and apply them to the High School Provincials at the end of February, but we鈥檙e really happy with how everything went," he said. "And this is an event for the kids, we want to make sure that they鈥檙e going to have an experience that they鈥檒l remember, the teams that had success will obviously remember the things that happened on the ice, but for most kids it will be the experiences they had off the ice.
"We had karaoke here on the one night and a bunch of teams were intermingling together and having a great time and those are the experiences that I鈥檓 going to take away from this event."
Patti Caldwell was head official for the event and Jarvis said she and Ian Milligan worked tirelessly throughout the week.
"Patti鈥檚 attitude is this is all for the kids and making sure that they have fun and sure it鈥檚 a competition, but it鈥檚 meant to be fun and we鈥檙e going to enjoy this," Jarvis said. "This is a sport that we can enjoy for life and so you want to make sure you鈥檙e building positive memories in every aspect."
Lindsay Shannon, administrative and event manager at Curl BC, was also on hand for the event, and presented all the awards.
"We would just like to thank the Kimberley Curling Club and the City of Kimberley who put on an amazing event here and welcomed all of our athletes who have performed so well," Shannon said. "We're really looking forward to cheering our winners on at the Nationals."
The Kimberley Curling Club's next big event is the High School Provincials from Feb. 26 to March 1.
