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Aaron Solberg, 14, has been curling since the age of five. Solberg is one of the curlers that will be competing in the Yukon leg of the U15 Rockfest.

He also has been doing some coaching with the junior curling program in Whitehorse for about the last two years.

The Star spoke with Solberg Sunday and asked him what he likes about the sport.

鈥淚 like the way that it includes a lot of people in the sport,鈥� he responded. 鈥淚 like the way that you can go out on the ice and have a sense of connection to the people out there, the community that the curling club has, the connection between the members, and most of all I love the ability to do something that has been passed down to me.鈥�

Solberg has literally grown up with the sport of curling.

鈥淪omehow I always found a way to get it on the TV,鈥� he recalled.

As for his strengths, Solberg said, 鈥淢ost importantly, is my commitment to the game. I love curling. I鈥檒l do it as much as possible. Like Saturday mornings, Sundays, during the week, all that. Anytime I can get on the ice. I love to go out on the ice. So my passion for the sport is probably my greatest strength.鈥�

Regarding what he needs to improve on, Solberg said, 鈥淲ith curling, you always want to work on something. So I鈥檓 always trying to find new ways to improve and be better than I鈥檝e been before.鈥�

Solberg is looking forward to the U15 Rockfest.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited for it. I haven鈥檛 done a U15 event before like this. So it would be interesting to compete. And if I do qualify to go down it鈥檇 be kind of eye opening to see the amount of actual interest there is for U15 curling.鈥�

Right now, it doesn鈥檛 look like Solberg should have too much competition in the Yukon.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not too many youth athletes that are going to be competing, but for the Rockfest, I do believe it鈥檚 just your personal evaluation of how well you curl out on the ice. So for me, it鈥檚 just going to be focusing on doing the best I can.

鈥淚 do think there will be enough male competitors to have an actual use for the competition rather than just a formality. But if that鈥檚 not the case, I鈥檓 still excited to go through the trial.鈥�

For preparation, Solberg said he鈥檚 been doing a fair amount of practicing and curling with his father Jon on Tuesday league nights.

The Rockfest West regional competition takes place March 15-17 at the Sherwood Park Curling Club. Solberg was asked what kind of competition he was expecting in Alberta.

鈥淚鈥檓 not completely sure. I鈥檓 not really aware of how many U15 curlers there are and what the interest is in the sport in

other regions. I know in Alberta, and British Columbia, in those places, there is larger amounts of kids willing to try out new sports and do new things. So I think there will probably be ample competition.鈥�

He added that he鈥檚 excited to see if his theory about the competition is correct or not.

Solberg said he hasn鈥檛 competed in any Outside tournaments yet. However, he does have some experience curling Outside.

鈥淚 did go to a high performance curling camp in Ontario, where I did get to meet some other athletes right in around my age. It was kind of a shock to see how many youth curlers there was at this camp.鈥�

The youth curling camp took place in Waterloo, Ontario.

When asked what he thought of their their curling level, Solberg said, 鈥淔or the most part, right around the same as mine. Of course, with youth curling, like U15 especially, people grow and develop at different stages.鈥�

Solberg said because of that, it鈥檚 hard to make a comparison between curlers who have different amounts of natural talent for curling, but added, 鈥淭here is a lot of equal talent out on the ice.鈥�

He said the camp was a good experience for him.

Solberg is more concerned about how he curls as opposed to how far he can go in the U15 Rockfest.

鈥淔or the most part right now, U15 is more about getting used to competition and being able to go and compete and play with other people that you鈥檝e not played with before. So for me, my goal isn鈥檛 just gonna be to make high place in the standings, but to play the best game I can and see what results follow.鈥�

Solberg was also asked if one of his aspirations is to one day compete in the Brier.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 definitely one of them,鈥� he replied.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 thought too much about it. I know I鈥檓 gonna try and keep the sport in my life as much as possible. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 kind of embedded into who I am as a person and the way I was raised, so even if it doesn鈥檛 mean I鈥檓 gonna become, like, 100 per cent professional, I鈥檓 still gonna try and find a way to get out on the ice.鈥�