By Sarah Tone, Communications Coordinator

Team Manitoba’s men’s curling team at the 2023 Canada Winter Games enters the competition as a definite medal contender. However, it’s not like the team has been together for long, with the Winter Games being the culmination of years of training.

In fact, coach Graham Freeman and his son Jace, the skip of the team, put this team together just a few months ago. Jace, third Elias Huminicki, second Jack Steski, and lead Rylan Graham, all play on separate junior teams that compete in the U21 category in Manitoba. They are certainly familiar with one another, having competed against each other over the past few years.

So, with the Games on the horizon, coach Graham assembled a team that he believed could compete at the national stage in U18 events. He wasn’t wrong. The team competed in only two events in Manitoba this year, winning both. They started by winning the Canada Games trials in November, going undefeated through 7 games to win the right to wear the buffalo in PEI.

In December, the Jace Freeman team captured the Manitoba U18 championship by going 6 and 1, and earned the right to represent the province in yet another national competition. They travelled to Timmons, Ontario, in February. They encountered their first struggles of the season early, losing their first two games in close matches. Showing much resiliency, the boys picked it up and won 5 games in a row. Ultimately, they lost a tough quarter-final game, but ended up finishing 6th out of 21 teams in Timmons.

They are off to a great start in PEI, having won their first two games. All told, their record is 21-5,  winning more than 80% of their games, not bad for a “throw-together team”.

Coach Graham believes strongly that his son’s team has the potential to win it all. They enjoy the competition, have confidence in their abilities, and importantly, are not afraid of the challenge. The combination of success, skill, and psychological toughness could certainly culminate in a trip to the podium at the 2023 Canada Winter Games!