St George's Curlers Gain Invaluable Experience at Scottish Schools Championship

Following a good performance in the Avantis Cup, a local competition held between Edinburgh Schools in February, St George's School Curling Club fielded a team to participate in the Scottish Schools Curling Championship, being held at Curl Aberdeen on 8-10 March 2024. The invitation came somewhat at the last minute, on account of a confirmed team pulling out of the competition, with Scottish Curling being made aware of the burgeoning curling programme being delivered through our Clubs and Activities. It was with some amount of trepidation, outweighed by a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, that Isla (skip), Dany, Autumn and Alice headed North-East to compete with established teams from across Scotland. 

An early start on Friday morning saw the girls face Lockerbie Academy, with a lunchtime game against ESMS Stewart Melville and an evening fixture with Perth Academy. Despite a good performance against Lockerbie, the girls suffered heavier defeats against the other teams. Thankfully, there was time to fully re-charge batteries on Saturday, given a 4pm fixture, with the girls enjoying a trip to the Aberdeen Maritime Museum and Art Gallery followed by lunch and Bubble Tea. Back on the ice for some more action, the girls' best match of the tournament came against skip Callie Soutar from Forfar Academy, fresh from winning a Gold Medal at the Youth Olympics in Gangwon, Korea. 

The young St George's School team fought hard to build a lead in each end with a series expertly delivered draws behind guarding stones, before the tide turned and the match was conceded in the face of tough opposition. After the game, some members of the watching public came to express how well they thought the girls had done in that match, which put beaming smile on their faces. 

No one underestimated the challenge that participation at the Championships would represent for the young squad, but everyone stepped up admirably in representing their school and it is hoped that their experiences have spurned them on to continue with their training when the curling season re-opens in October 2024. Until then, there's much to reflect on in terms of this season's Curling Club, with all members (not just those competing in Aberdeen) being able to take a huge amount credit from their decision to 'try something new', as well as their dedication to train and put our school back on the curling map!