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Junior Houston curler trains for B.C. Winter Games

“My favourite thing about curling is the strategy you have to put in the game.”
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Eryn Czirfusz, a 12 year-old Houston resident and athlete, has been curling since she was in the Grade 3 juniors Houston curling club, and since July 2017 has been training to tryout for the 2018 B.C. Winter Games.

Czirfusz attended the RockSlide Camp in Kelowna B.C. for a one week curling camp that brought 92 curlers from all over the province to train and strengthen their skills in curling.

Czirfusz said that is where she met the B.C. coaches for curling, and since then has been inspired to train alongside four other young athletes for the 2018 B.C. Winter Game tryouts in January 2018.

Czirfusz has been training on weekends in Kitimat with her fellow junior teammates working on sweeping drills and their leg drives, where the athletes push out of the hack and maintain their balance and control when delivering the curling rock.

In Houston, the juniors culring club does not run all year, so during the week Czirfusz curls with the men’s curling club on Wednesdays and the adult club on Fridays to get as much ice time as she can in.

“I just want to say that I really appreciate all the support and encouragement the Houston Curling club has given me,” said Czirfusz.

Tryouts for the B.C. Winter Games will be from Jan. 12 to 14, which leaves just a few more weeks left in December for Czirfusz to practice and train to be at her best for the zone play downs.

Czirfusz says that her greatest strengths as a curler is her slide and sweeping.

“My favourite thing about curling is the strategy you have to put in the game,” said Czirfusz.

Czirfusz explained that you have to be able to anticipate the moves the other team might take their next turn, and determine what shots would be best for your team to execute to gain an advantage and keep yourselves in the game.

“Getting my leg drive right for the draws,” Czirfusz said are the weaknesses that she is working on right now through training.

Czirfusz explained that accuracy comes from the legs, and that it’s about working on that control to deliver the weight of the rock to the shot the skip is calling.

If Czirfusz and her team make it through the tryouts for the B.C. Winter Games at the zone play downs, then her and her team will go to Kamloops in February to compete at the 2018 B.C. Winter Games for curling.