By Ben Hoppe
While the best teams in the world are taking the ice this week at the CO-OP Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta., their future replacements will be just down the road in Beaumont competing in the inaugural Jr. GSOC U25 and U15 tournaments.
Often, when we point to curlers as the "future," we often mean "eventually, but not anytime soon." Jackson Bestland, vice skip for Team Hebert, was quick to clarify that the U25 event is showcasing teams that will not only be relevant at some abstract point down the road, he referred to these teams as "the near future."
A number of teams in the women’s and men’s U25 fields already made an appearance at the AMJ Masters Tier 2 in St. Thomas, Ont., last month. Multiple other rinks, Hebert included, are no doubt going to be there before too long. The strength of the field in Beaumont will certainly help with that.
"I know we all want to be (at the Tier 1),” Bestland said. “Getting some reps on that stage definitely helps to get you there.”
One of the U.S. women’s teams headed to Alberta for the Junior Slam, led by Allory Johnson, is looking forward to taking in the experience of curling on that stage.
"(Playing in the Grand Slam) is something we’ve always dreamed about,” second Morgan Zacher shared.
Both Johnson and Hebert are reigning U.S. junior national champions, and each secured the final berth on the women’s and men’s sides, respectively, at November’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
The Jr. GSOC event will bring more value than the opportunity to play in the arena in Nisku for the finalists. The U25 event bridges an important gap, which is particularly glaring in the United States.
Subasthika Thangadurai experienced the difference between the U.S. and Canada firsthand. Growing up in Alberta, Thangadurai was surrounded by competitive opportunities, but she moved to California where the same types of opportunities are nearly nonexistent.
“It was a huge, and somewhat jarring, change,” she shared.
In the United States, especially, very few events aid teams trying to transition from junior events, which max out at the U21 level, to women’s and men’s tour events. Making that jump can lead to a lot of growing pains. The best junior teams can make any type of shot, but even those teams will almost always have a few total misses per game.
“The big jump is the half-misses versus the full misses that you get out of junior teams,” observed Bestland. “(Against) the big guys, you miss once, and all of the sudden you’re hooped. If you don’t make the run double right after that, they’re going to get a deuce or even more.”
Team Hebert has had to learn from those mistakes every time they’ve moved up in skill level, and his coach 1998 Olympian Mike Peplinski acknowledged the importance of taking their lumps. “If we want to get where we want to get as a team, we have to go through some growing pains.”
Team Johnson has felt the same.
“Sometimes when you’re playing in women’s events, you just have to get beat up a little bit,” Zacher said. And this is where the access to a U25 event is so helpful. “It’s a nice in-between because we try to challenge ourselves by playing teams that are above the junior level.”
Both Zacher and Bestland’s squads are headed to Finland in December to compete in the World Junior B Championships, and they both referenced how the Jr. GSOC event will help prepare them against teams they could end up facing down the road.
Peplinski, a leader of the US National Junior Development Program, agreed.
“The Jr. Slam is such a great way to bring the top U25 teams in the world together," Peplinski said. "We strive to fill our schedule with tough opponents who will help us improve. To do that against players in our age group just adds to the taste of truly competitive curling.”
5 U.S. TEAMS HEADED TO JR. GSOC
The United States will have two women’s and two men’s teams in the U25 division of the Jr. GSOC.
Minnesota’s Allory Johnson and California’s Subasthika Thangadurai will represent the U.S. in the women’s field. Caden Hebert and Jackson Bestland will be joined on the men’s side by their skip from the 2024 USA Curling National Championships, Wes Wendling, who took over as skip of Team Sampson this past off-season.
Even though Team Shuster is unable to play in Nisku due to the upcoming Pan Continental Curling Championships, it will not be a Shuster-less event. In the U15 division, John’s son Luke will be joining Tucker and Carter Hellman. Luke Shuster will not be the only child of an Olympic gold medalist on Team Hellman. They’ll be joined by Marissa Gushue, daughter of Brad Gushue, to round out the rink in Alberta.
John’s face lit up when asked about Luke playing in junior events with the Hellman twins, and he is a big fan of the U15 and U25 Slams.
“I wish there were events like these when I was both U15 and U25," he said.
The Jr. GSOC U25 and U15 tournaments begin Thursday at the Beaumont Curling Club.
A BUSY WEEKEND FOR TRIALS TEAMS
The St. Paul Cashspiel was the final time any U.S. Olympic Trials teams will be competing in the same field prior to next month’s event in Sioux Falls, N.D.
The entire women’s field took the ice in St. Paul while three of the four men’s teams also competed, giving a small preview of the drama to come.
Tabitha Peterson, Delaney Strouse, Elizabeth Cousins, and Allory Johnson all qualified for the playoffs in St. Paul. In a potential Trials final preview, Delaney Strouse defeated a three-handed Peterson in the semifinals, but Korea’s Eun-jung Kim played spoiler for the American teams.
The fifth-ranked Kim defeated Johnson in the quarterfinals and Cousins in the semifinals. They managed to steal in the 8th against Strouse to force an extra end. Strouse had to make a hit-and-stick to win, but her shooter rolled too far, and Kim stole again to take the win.
John Shuster, Danny Casper, and Caden Hebert also all made it into the playoffs. In a rematch of the AMJ Masters Tier 2 semifinals, Shuster prevailed over Casper in the quarterfinals in St. Paul but was eliminated by Scott Dunnam in the semifinals.
Team Hebert were the stars of Selby Avenue this weekend, though, defeating Dunnam in the final. The 20-year-old skip improved to 25-5 on the season. Their five losses have only come to two teams.
Team Dropkin were the only Trials team absent from the St. Paul Cashspiel. With their team about to travel to Alberta for the CO-OP Tour Challenge, Dropkin and Team Peterson vice-skip Cory Thiesse were joined by Dropkin’s teammate Andrew Stopera in the Mixed Doubles Super Series in Kitchener-Waterloo. Andrew Stopera and Sarah Anderson defeated Thiesse and Dropkin in the all-American final.
Lead photo courtesy of USA Curling/Emma Wanyek.
