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Sunday at the Whitehorse Curling Club was a day for the youth. The young curlers spent the day on the sheets for the 2019 Suzanne Bertrand Memorial Junior Bonspiel.

The bonspiel has been running for at least 15 years, all in partnership with McDonalds, and organizer Wade Kopan spoke to Bertrand鈥檚 importance to the young curlers at the club.

鈥淚 learned a lot from her when she was around,鈥� said Kopan. 鈥淪he was a teacher and you could tell when she was instructing curling with the kids that she had that teacher鈥檚 voice. We all learned a lot as a result of that."

Participating in the bonspiel was the Whitehorse Curling Club junior program and had 24 athletes, kids as young as five and up to 16. It was the perfect number of curlers, said Kopan, as the volunteers were able to organize the players into six teams of four.

鈥淪ome of those kids were intermingled as far as age groups were concerned,鈥� said Kopan.

It鈥檚 not a competitive setting but it allows the curlers to learn the nuances of the game, how to keep score, being more strategic, and playing all the ends in a game setting.

Some of the older curlers in the junior program, said Kopan, were helpful in assisting the younger kids who aren鈥檛 as experienced.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really great to see,鈥� said Kopan.

Kopan is one of the instructors of the junior curling program which runs Saturday mornings at the curling club. He said for some of the players this is their first time playing in a game format.

鈥淔or a lot of them yes,鈥� said Kopan. 鈥淭here are some that come from school programs so they have a rough idea of how it鈥檚 done. When they get into my setting it鈥檚 a little more structured, a little more strategy and all done in a game setting.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the time of the game like they would have at the competition level. It鈥檚 quite regular for a two-end game to take an hour.鈥�

At the bonspiel, Kopan said he tries to blend trying to getting more ends in, while still trying to teach.

鈥淭here is a little bit of both in with that,鈥� said Kopan. 鈥淚 gauge where the kids鈥� experience, skill level that sort of thing is concerned. It鈥檚 just a better gauging at what the kids are feeling like at a certain time.鈥�

The bonspiel is structured as two four-end games.

From the start of the curling season and leading into the bonspiel, Kopan said he has seen improvement in the kids鈥� play.

鈥淢ost definitely,鈥� said Kopan. 鈥淭he group of kids that we have now, we鈥檝e got a really good bunch of kids. Meaning that they are really enthusiastic, they want to learn and they are willing to listen and it鈥檚 great.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had some other groups in the past where we鈥檝e had to repeat a few things, stuff like that, which is fine, we get that.

鈥淭his group seems to be an alignment of the stars. Everything seems to work out that we have kids that want to learn and are enthusiastic. That鈥檚 three quarters or my instruction so it鈥檚 let鈥檚 go play.鈥�

Kopan said the kids brought that enthusiasm to the rink on Sunday.

鈥淵ou see that input from the kids,鈥� said Kopan. 鈥淭here are seven-year-olds asking what should I do here? They are going through shot planning. They see it on TV, on Saturday morning and they鈥檙e putting everything together.

鈥淣ow they are in a bonspiel kind of situation and they are asking relevant questions on how the game is being played. It鈥檚 good to see that the instruction that we are providing, we are getting something back. It鈥檚 working out.鈥�

Kopan said the Junior Bonspiel was helpful for the kids as it allowed them to take what they鈥檝e been learning in their practices and piece it all together during a game.