Pictured L-R: Ava and Leah Beausoleil with the provincial championship trophy the pair won as part of Saskatoon’s Team Taylor, Dec. 27-30 in Humboldt. (Submitted photo/Ava Beausoleil)

By Martin Martinson

Oakville bound

Beausoleil sisters ready for U18 curling nationals as new date announced

Jan 21, 2022 | 1:00 PM

Local curlers, Ava and Leah Beausoleil, received exciting news Friday morning, as Curling Canada announced their new dates for the 2022 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships which will be held in Oakville, Ont., May 2–7.

Ava (who plays second) and Leah (who serves as alternate), will be competing at the national tournament this year, as part of Saskatoon’s Team Taylor, along with skip Savanna Taylor, third Annika Steckler, and lead Katlyn Kennedy – who together punched their ticket to the national stage with a provincials win in Humboldt to end 2021.

Team Taylor pictured L-R (in each picture): Savanna Taylor, Annika Steckler, Ava Beausoleil, Katie Kennedy, Leah Beausoleil, coach Brian Steckler. (Submitted photos/Ava Beausoleil)

The national tournament had originally been scheduled for mid-February in Timmins, Ont., before being postponed earlier this year, and then shifted in location to the newly announced Oakville, Friday.

“I am just super excited that it has been rescheduled so quickly,” the elder Beausoleil, Ava, said with a smile. “The team and I are thankful that the Oakville Curling Club has stepped up to host the event.”

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Team Taylor won five of their six games through the round robin at U18 Girls Open Provincials, before ultimately topping Team Kessel 6-5 to clinch provincial gold, and the first berth to nationals for Saskatchewan.

The championship served as the team’s first at the provincial level and Ava’s second appearance personally on the provincial stage. She said she can still remember it like it was yesterday, the exact moment the team knew they were nationals-bound as champions.

“Once we watched the opponent’s last rock come down and not quite crawl enough, we knew then we had won and it was kind of hard to contain the emotions, as it was very exciting,” she recalled.

Beausoleil went on to add that being able to share the moment with her sister, and now head to nationals together, has made the experience even sweeter.

“After we had cleared all the rocks, she was the first person I hugged after my team and it was pretty cool,” she said. “Leah does a lot for the team; she is always ready to play if someone is ever hurt or sick and she keeps track of rocks and how the ice changes after rounds, so it’s always really nice to have her there to help us out, and be able to share that together.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1