Team Garnett in limbo after provincials
By Brady Grove, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Scott Garnett
“We beat them (Harty) down south to get to provincials but then they rallied off two wins against us,” said Skip Scott Garnett. “We just couldn’t get anything going.”
Team Garnett came ready to play against Team Harty and scored three points in the first end to put their opponent behind the eight-ball. But slowly, throughout the remainder of the game, Team Harty inched their way back in it and took the lead with a four-point third end. Team Garnett wouldn’t score another point until the seventh end and Team Harty managed to shut them down in the final two ends.
Team Garnett started the tournament against Team Harty in the A event and suffered a heavy defeat, 9-3. However, they began to pick up momentum, winning two close games; first 8-6 against Team Leach and then a 9-8 nail-biter against Team Sluchinski. The club was one game away from the B event qualifier for the Brier.
“Rattling off two wins was great. It was a bummer not to make playoffs,” said Garnett. “For us to expect to make playoffs at this stage of our careers is a bit silly, but it’s definitely something I have ambitions to get to in the future.”
Making the Brier has been Garnett’s curling dream, but qualifying for the Olympics has also been in his mind and winning at provincials is the first step to achieving those goals. This was Team Garnett’s second time at provincials. According to Garnett the team struggled early in the year at the qualifier matches and had trouble closing.
“Getting into qualifying games is always a challenge to do,” said Garnett. “Finally, we pulled together four wins in a row at southerns and it was pretty exciting to come through and get to another provincials.”
Team Garnett qualified for the Boston Pizza Cup at the Medicine Hat Qualifier on Jan. 12.
The team is facing an uncertain future as Lead Matthew McDonald will be leaving the team to focus on being a father to his new second child.
“I got another little one on the way at the end of April so that was kind of my swan song,” said McDonald. “It was definitely a little emotional for me to know that I’d be stepping away from the game.”
According to McDonald, one of the strengths of the team is the camaraderie the guys have with each other, and it helps them stay competitive and work well together.
Garnett and McDonald have known each other for about 12 years. McDonald’s leaving didn’t surprise Garnett because he knows how time-consuming curling is and it costs a lot of money which can be a big barrier for some athletes.
“It’s a hard decision to make at this point in my career; I’d like to keep curling but I’ve already got a two-year-old at home and another one on the way, and I’d like to spend at least a year with them,” said McDonald.
Garnett, third Tyler Lautner and second Craig Bourgonje don’t have any children which gives them more flexibility. According to Garnett, McDonald brought a lot of experience and stability to the team.
Free agency has now started for most curling teams in Alberta and according to Garnett, the team is taking a breather before deciding what to do in the future, whether that’s starting a new team or filling in McDonald’s place.
“It was a great season. We felt we learned a lot and we continue to improve,” said Garnett. “But at the same time, you see that two of the top teams in the world are in your province and you’ll see teams start to split up so that together you can take on those top teams.”
Garnett sits on the board of the Strathmore and District Curling Club and wants to get more kids in the community playing the sport. One thing Garnett did was took brooms to the Boston Pizza Cup and got them signed by some of the top teams, including curling legend Kevin Martin, for the Junior Bonspiel in Strathmore on Feb. 22-23 which teams can win.