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Young 91原创 curlers compete in national U18 in Moncton this week

As the season wraps up, Team Tardi bids adieu to a teammate who鈥檚 aged out.
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Team Tardi, including skip Tyler Tardi and Sterling Middleton curling out of 91原创 Curling Club, and Victoria鈥檚 Derek Chandler and Scott Gray, won at the U18 provincials and earned a spot at the U18 nationals this week in Moncton. (Special to the 91原创 Advance).

A quartet of 91原创 up-and-comers on the curling front wrap up their season in New Brunswick this week 鈥 at last half them do.

That鈥檚 a reference to a junior team who made history this year 鈥 Team Tardi.

Tyler Tardi, the skip and team namesake, along with vice-skip Sterling Middleton, and team coach Paul Tardi are bound for Moncton to represent B.C. at the Canadian nationals.

As members of the 91原创 Curling Centre, they were sent off with some fanfare this past weekend, during the annual banquet to wrap up the club season.

鈥淭hey had an amazing season last year,鈥 said curling club president Troy Matsumiya.

鈥淏ut this year, they blew it out of the water,鈥 he said, listing off all their major accomplishments in front of a crowd of some 150 fellow curlers.

The team earned this chance at the nationals when they won during the BC U18 Curling Championships in Nanaimo in mid-March.

The competition in New Brunswick is a first-time event, and the team 鈥 consisting of the two local boys and two teammates (Derek Chandler and Scott Gray) from Victoria 鈥 is looking forward to some challenging competition.

In the meantime, they thanked the local club members for all the support 鈥 financial and emotional 鈥 given throughout the season.

鈥淲e have had a fantastic season and are so glad that we were able to bring home a Canadian championship,鈥 Tyler said, referring to the nationals in Victoria.

While the original Team Tardi plays out of 91原创, the only teammate who actually lives in 91原创 is Nick Meister, who ages out of junior level play at the end of this season. And only Tyler and Sterling are still young enough to play in this week鈥檚 U18 championship.

Tyler and his brother, Jordan, hail from Cloverdale, while Sterling is from Burnaby.

鈥淭yler and Jordan played with Nick for the last six years, and it is bittersweet that our season and our time with Nick in juniors has come to an end,鈥 said team manager Anita Tardi.

鈥淲e have decided to continue to focus on juniors as a team, and wish Nick well as he embarks on his career in men鈥檚,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hanks for being such an amazing teammate. We wish you well and look forward to competing against you next season.鈥

Matsumiya called them the 鈥渉ardest working鈥 team in B.C.

鈥淭hey started with a bang by winning the World Curling Tour Prestige Curling Classic, then played some of the best teams on the continent in the Grand Slam Tour Challenge Tier 2, where they made it to the quarter finals,鈥 Matsumiya said.

鈥淎t the Provincial Junior Men鈥檚 Championship, they successfully defended their title and for a second year in a row captured the gold medal. At the Canadian Nationals in Victoria, the team dominated the round-robin to finish at the top of the standings and earn a bye directly into the finals.

鈥淚n the finals, they battled a very tough Team Ontario and won the gold medal in dramatic fashion to become the Canadian national champions. They also made history as the first B.C. junior men鈥檚 team to become national champions in 17 years, and are the second team from 91原创 to earn a national title.

鈥淭hey also earned individual awards at the nationals, with Tyler named to the second team all-stars; Sterling won the fair-play award, and Paul won the national coaching award.

鈥淎nd although there was no official award for this, I think we can all agree that Tyler deserves a special award for the 鈥榤ost-kick-ass double takeout ever鈥,鈥 Matsumiya added.

鈥淎t the world championships in Korea, they battled the best teams in the world, making it to a tie-breaker and finishing in the Top 5.

鈥淭hey had the highest overall team percentage, and Tyler was second among skips. Great job guys, congratulations. You鈥檝e done your country proud. You鈥檝e done your club proud. We are all so very proud of you.

鈥淏ut wait,鈥 the club president said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more. They also played in the BC Men鈥檚 Provincial Championship, the BC Mixed Doubles Championship, and Tyler and Sterling just won the inaugural BC U18 Boys Provincial Championship,鈥 he concluded.

He wished them luck as they go on to represent BC this week at the new U18 nationals.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see what you will all accomplish next year,鈥 Matsumiya said.



Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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