Earlier this year, a team of young curlers from the Coldwater and District Curling Club won a national championship.
And its home club is preparing to put down the red carpet and celebrate the team’s feat.
On Saturday, June 1, at 2 p.m. the club is opening its doors to the community to recognize and celebrate the boys’ achievements.
Known as Team Niepage because the team is skipped by Dylan Niepage, the Coldwater boys rocked the house at the 2019 U18 National Championship in Sherwood Park, Alberta.
The Ontario champs capped off their Cinderella season with a victory over British Columbia in the gold-medal game to write their names in the history book as Canadian champions.
Those Canadian champs include skip Dylan Niepage, vice Sam Hastings, second Cameron Van Bodegom, lead Trey Cowell and alternate Chris Inglis. The team is coached by Jeff Van Bodegom.
It's a remarkable feat for a small club of approximately 250 members of which only about 50 are young curlers from ages 5 to 18.
Prior to nationals, the club held a send-off for the teens that was attended by club members of all ages, from Little Rocks to Seniors.
"Everyone signed a banner that was sent out west with the team and provided the financial and moral support needed to help them along," said Tom McMenemy, the club's youth program director.
He said the best part of this story is “that three of the five members developed together within this club's youth program, playing together for the past seven years."
The success is the result of years of hard work, "toughing it out in every level of competition and learning how to win by learning how to lose, together as a team.”
The 2019 Canadian and Ontario U-18 men’s champions join an elite group of curling champions that have called the Coldwater and District Curling Club home.
In 2001, Sherry Middaugh and Glenn Howard chose Coldwater as their home club. Between them, these world class teams have won numerous provincial championship banners which adorn the arena wall.
In March 2007, the Brier Trophy visited the Coldwater Club as part of its cross country tour, prior to the Howard team winning it in Hamilton.
On June 2, 2007 there was a celebration at the Coldwater Curling Club to introduce Team Howard as the 2007 Men's World Curling Champions.
In 2014, 10 curlers set out to raise funds to help the regional health centre create a new cancer-treatment centre. In the process, they set a new Guiness World Record for the longest curling game, lasting over 79 hours of continuous curling.
In 2017, Coldwater again was in the world spotlight when the record was brought back to Canada with a new and current world record of just over 105 hours of continuous curling.
But on June 1, the spotlight will shine on Team Niepage as the boys return home to celebrate their success, rooted in the rink in Coldwater.
