Cornerstone Uses Rookies And Experience To Advance To Provincials
LAST YEAR CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL'S GIRLS CURLING TEAM DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS TO QUALIFY FOR THE CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
THIS YEAR THEY MANAGED TO MEET THEIR GOAL OF HAVING ENOUGH PLAYERS TO COMPETE.
THINGS WENT WELL. VERY WELL.
THEY ENDED UP QUALIFYING FOR PROVINCIALS
Story and Photos by Robert Thomas
When 17 year old Nidachaya Buakaew slid out of the hacks at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre last Friday morning the temperature was 39C back home in Hatyai, Thailand.
NIDACHAYA BUAKAEW THROWS A STONE IN THE FIRST END OF THE OPENING DRAW IN REGIONAL QUALIFIERS AS NAMI TSUCHIYA (LEFT) GETS READY TO SWEEP - MJ INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO
Meanwhile in 17 year old Nami Tsuchiya's hometown of Aichi, Japan the temperature was a much more bearable 11 C.
Neither community are known for their curling prowess.
In fact neither community has a curling rink.
Even more startling is until this past November Buakaew had never seen a curling rink or knew anything about curling.
For Tsuchiya she had seen curling before on TV but until November never once stepped on a sheet of curling ice before.
Combined both barely have six months of curling experience between them.
But by the end of last Friday afternoon the two foreign students along with fellow Cornerstone Christian School teammates Payton Fisher, Callen Nyhof and Becca Hobbs were the B Qualifier for the high school girls provincial playdowns.
CORNERSTONE GIRLS PROVINCIAL QUALIFIERS - (LEFT TO RIGHT) LEAD NIDACHAYA BUAKAEW, SECOND NAMI TSUCHIYA, THIRD PAYTON FISHER AND SKIP CALLEN NYHOF. MISSING ALTERNATE BECCA HOBBs.
The first trip Cornerstone has ever made to a provincial high school curling championship.
A Surreal Situation
But if you think that's the end of how unique Cornerstone's entry is to provincials you would be wrong.
If it hadn’t been for inviting Buakaew and Tsuchiya to give curling a try Cornerstone would not have had enough girls to field a team.
There would be no city's let alone districts, regionals and provincials.
“It’s really cool we were able to scrape together a team. We have two new people (Buakaew and Tsuchiya) but they just learn and excel so well,” skip Callen Nyhof said.
CORNERSTONE SKIP CALLEN NYHOF DURING PRACTICE ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
Last year Cornerstone Christian School did not have enough players to qualify to play in the city championships.
Asked if it wasn’t a little bit different to only be able to field a qualifying curling team for the Moose Jaw city championships by calling upon two totally inexperienced curlers from Thailand and Japan Nyhof said she had to agree.
“I never thought about it but it is quite the crazy feeling now. The fact that they're here now it’s great.”
The uniqueness of the Cornerstone team extends to Nyhof as well.
Her parents sold the family home and no longer live in Moose Jaw but Nyhof remained behind to finish her graduation year at Cornerstone and of course curling.
“I’m so grateful we had a team this year, my last year. No matter what happens it’s just exciting we got to play as long as we did. My goal was just to reach city's,” she said.
Fun On The Ice
For Nyhof having two players on her team who are not native English speakers has been a learning experience.
Words used on the ice to stop and start sweeping such as go and woe sound similar to Buakaew and Tsuchiya so adjustments were made.
LEAD NIDACHAYA BUAKAEW (LEFT) AND SECOND NAMI TSUCHIYA SWEEP DURING TUESDAY'S PRACTICE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF SKIP CALLEN NYHOF - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
Nyhof said one of the great things curling with two foreign students is not only getting to learn about the countries they are from but also them as people.
For Cornerstone curling coach John Fortune the arrival of two inexperienced curlers with no knowledge about curling has not been a hinderence but rather a blessing in his 53 years of curling.
“I am more happy with these girls then anything I have ever done,” Fortune said.
By having no real knowledge of nor ever actually curled before Fortune said it is relatively easy to teach them good habits as they have no bad habits to change.
The strategy Fortune, who has been Cornerstone's curling coach since 2008, has is to allow the front end of rookies Buakaew and Tsuchiya to have the easy shots of placing guards or getting rocks into the house.
Harder shots are left to skip Nyhof and her six years of curling experience or 14 year old Grade Nine student third Payton Fisher who first hit the curling ice a decade ago.
About Nidachaya Buakaew, known by her nickname Ninnie, Fortune said she picked up the game fast.
“She’s not a high quality curler yet but she puts 100 percent of effort into every shot. I can’t ask for any more.”
For Tsuchiya who, until November, never once stepped on a sheet of curling ice in her life Fortune called a fast learner.
“She learned the game quicker and she can do most shots that I ask of her,” he said.
For Fortune having foreign students try out for curling is one of the greatest rewards of coaching at Cornerstone.
CORNERSTONE'S NAMI TSUCHIYA (LEFT) AND THIRD PAYTON FISHER SWEEP DURING THE REGIONAL QUALIFIER - MJ INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO
“I am so thrilled with it. Normally I get exchange students every year and it’s detrimental to higher level games but I love it…getting them to play a game they’ve never seen or played before is rewarding.”
Fortune runs his team that there are no bench warmers, everyone on the team no matter their curling abilities, gets a chance to play.
A Former Skip
For Grade Nine student and third Payton Fisher joining Cornerstone's curling program allowed her to step down to third from being skip in elementary curling.
“It’s awesome. I’m so excited. Usually I am skip but I like third better. There is just not as much stress,” Fisher said, adding by not being the ultimate decision maker she could focus more on her shots.
Asked what it is like being on the same team as two rookie curlers from abroad she called the experience “awesome.”
“I love teaching them and stuff. And I get to learn about them (as people) and how they haven’t seen it (curling ice) before,” she said.
“They're amazing for just learning about curling in November.”
Never Seen Ice Before - Curling Is Cool
For Thailand's Nidachaya “Ninnie” Buakaew curling has been a major highlight in her year at Cornerstone.
NIDACHAYA “NINNIE” BUAKAEW GETS READY FOR NAMI TSUCHIYA TO THROW A SHOT AT THIS PAST WEEKEND's REGIONAL QUALIFIER - MJ INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO
Buakaew said she was asked if she would like to try curling and became enthralled with the game.
“I didn’t expect to do any sports here but I said I would try it because it looked so cool. Just being able to slide on the ice,” she said.
It’s something she cannot do back home in Thailand.
“I never heard about curling before (in Thailand).”
Buakaew said she was thankful to those who had introduced her to and taught her the game - her coach John Fortune, the teachers and her teammates.
“They told me to come and try it. I had no idea what they were talking about. It’s cool it’s so much fun.”
A big thing she has enjoyed from curling other than sliding around on the curling ice has been the number of people she has met.
“I met a lot of new friends from this sport curling.”
It's the friendliness Canada is known for that brought her to Moose Jaw.
She ended up in Cornerstone because she saw the US as a dangerous country.
“I came to Canada because I think it is safer (than the United States) and it is a very nice country to learn.”
Nami Tsuchiya said her only knowledge about curling came from watching it on television.
She described her experience with curling as a “fun sport for me.”
Being part of a team that makes her “happy and have fun” is what she enjoys about the sport.
The trip to provincials was a welcome surprise.
“I was so surprised. My parents (in Japan) and my host family too. Everyone was so surprised.”
“I didn’t. I didn’t think we would get to go to provincials. I think I don't believe we would go.”
Provincial Aspirations
With a goal of just having enough players to qualify for the city championship Cornerstone's girls curling team qualifying for Provincials is well beyond their initial goal.
The team has no real goal for provincials other than playing as hard as they can, see how far they can advance but above all have fun.
For coach Fortune the team has nothing left to prove but he's hoping they do well.
“I’m thrilled for them,” he said.
For Buakaew she said it’s “amazing” to be on the way to provincials this weekend.
“I was so excited. I was crying. And I didn’t know how to feel,” she said.
Tsuchiya said “I hope to just have fun. And I just want to win at least one game.”
For Cornerstone skip Nyhof Provincials is all about playing their best and seeing where it all ends up.
“I just hope we do our best and have fun doing it. I just hope we leave it all out there and no matter what happens the fact we made it here is amazing. It would be really cool to win but there are a lot of teams. The thing is to have fun and just do our best possible,” she said.
The High School Girls Provincials go this weekend Friday March 10th - Saturday March 11th in Langham.