Curlers, Bob Smallwood, Jenna Duncan, Alexx Peech and Jody Smallwood are currently representing the Yukon and the Whitehorse Curling Club at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship in Winnipeg, Man.

Team Yukon started their tournament off with a 9-8 victory over team Newfoundland, in one of the most offensive games in the round robin.

In there next two draws team Yukon lost to Quebec 4-1 and the hometown team, Manitoba 8-4. Second Alexx Peech attributes some of the team’s early struggles to a lack of preparation.

“The tournament started a week earlier this year,” said Peech over the phone.

“Bob and Jody (Smallwood) live in Atlin, and Jenna in B.C., so we were a little behind getting prepared. I was nervous going in because I didn’t feel ready enough, and didn’t have enough practice. We haven’t had any team practice, nor did we have any competitive games beforehand.”

Team Yukon was able to turn it around in the next two draws, as the team began to gel together.

“The team began gelling really well,” said Peech. “Curling is a game where you have to really rely on your teammates, where you have to pick each other up.”

The team went on to defeat Saskatchewan 5-3, handing them their first loss of the tournament. They followed that win, by defeating the Northern Ontario team, which curls out of Thunder Bay, 10-6, in a game Peech says was the team’s best game so far.

After defeating team Nunavut 7-5, the team qualified for the Championship Pool, finishing third in their respective round robin pool. It was a far better result than last year’s tournament where the team won only one game in the round robin, unable to advance. Peech was very happy with how the team has played up until this point.

“Last year after only winning one round robin game we are all very happy to make it to the championship round,” said Peech. “We have had a real good tournament so far. We didn’t start as sharp as we would like but we are happy with the result.”

On Thursday the team started their playoff hunt with a loss to team Ontario, falling 6-4. Ontario was able to put up two scores of two while team Yukon could only score singles in a close match that just didn’t break team Yukon’s way.

“It was a close game, we shot pretty good,” said Peech. “Ontario was not as sharp and slacking a bit, but we couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities. We only allowed one steal, and got one of our own, but gave up two in the sixth and only managed to get one back in the seventh.”

Team Yukon will play team Alberta and team B.C. today, feeling more confident than they did in the beginning stages of the tournament.

“We just have to throw two rocks at a time and play one end at a time and we will have a chance, we are right there,” said Peech. “We know we can compete with any one of these teams. Our confidence is building and we are feeling hungry. No more fear.”

This is skipper Bob Smallwood’s sixth consecutive Canadian Mixed Curling Championship. It is his first time qualifying for the Championship Pool since 2016. It is Peech’s second Mixed Championship playing alongside Smallwood.

The team’s current record stands at 4-3.