Local curler Thomas Scoffin has made his way to Austria as the skip for Canada's Youth Olympic Curling team.

The 17-year-old left on Sunday to compete alongside 3,500 other well-traveled athletes at the Games.

It marks Canada's first appearance at the event.

Scoffin said he was speechless when he found out in early April that he had been selected to the team.

He will be joined by teammates Emily Gray of P.E.I., Corryn Brown of B.C. and Derek Oryniak of Manitoba.

The team will be led by coach Helen Radford, a Nova Scotia-native.

"It's a huge honour to represent Canada at the international stage,” he said. "I'm definitely very lucky to have this opportunity.”

The Games have been Scoffin's source of motivation throughout the season. He believes he's playing the best curling of his life and he's hopeful that momentum will continue as he competes on the largest stage of his young career.

"Right now I'm not nervous, I'm really excited and I've worked really hard for this,” he said. "I'm ready to play.”

"This year is the best I've ever played and I've had a chance to work with some of the best coaches in Canada,” he said.

His local coach is also his father, Wade Scoffin, and he believes the team has a real shot at bringing a medal home. He said the plethora of experience and opportunity afforded by curling in Canada will elevate their abilities at the Games.

"The teams they face will have local and regional experience but there is no place in the world that has the depth of curling opportunity that Canada does,” Wade said.

That opportunity has certainly served Thomas well as he has competed on the national and international stage throughout his career, including five appearances at the junior nationals.

Thomas and Wade each credited the Yukon sports system for providing the opportunity to compete at an advanced level from an early age.

"It takes a community to raise a kid and to raise an athlete it certainly takes a whole sports community, " Wade said.

"There have been so many incredible opportunities because of where we live.

When the kids really apply themselves the results are terrific.”

Thomas said that his experience will help him with pressure situations and dealing with any on-ice issues that arise at the Games. "I think that will be one the biggest things I will contribute to the team,” he said.

Wade said one aspect of Thomas' game that has seen noticeable improvement this season is his on-ice focus and emotional control.

"It's very important in sports that are execution and precision based that you keep within yourself and not be effected by outside things,” he said.

"He has improved a lot in that area.”

Thomas said that the team's cohesiveness and abilities have grown significantly since learning of their initial selection nine month ago.

"We've competed six times together at different events and training camps and we've played pretty well,” he said.

Thomas said he's unsure what to expect from his competitors but that he's anxiously waiting to see. He believes that each member of the Canadian team is prepared to play to the best of their abilities.

"We just want to give it everything we've got and come back with no regrets,” he said. "Hopefully we'll have a medal too.”

He noted that all four of the athletes have been extremely dedicated this season, knowing that they have the opportunity to represent the country.

"It's a pretty prestigious thing to wear a maple leaf on your back when you're playing for your country and I don't think it gets any better than that,” he said.

"We're definitely going to enjoy it and soak everything in and just love it while it lasts.”