Juniorcurlerspoweredbyvideogameprowess

PoMo team is headed to U18 nationals in Ont.

MARIO BARTEL

mbartel@tricitynews.com

An online soccer video game where the players are cars could be key to bringing a junior national championship to the Port Moody Curling Club (PMCC)

Adrian Tam, skip of the PMCC foursome that’s headed to Timmins, Ont , for the under-18 Canadian championships Feb 5–11, said while the team’s coaches have been honing their game on the ice, they’ve been forging their friendship over many hours playing Rocket League

The bond paid off when Tam, lead Harrison Hrynew, second Ethan Chiu and third Austin Tomlinson finished second at provincials in Richmond in December, earning the opportunity to compete at nationals for the first time

While Tam, Chiu and Hrynew all curl out of Port Moody, Tomlinson is from Salmon Arm, meaning the team is only fully together when they’re competing at bonspiels every second weekend or so

To develop the communication skills and intuitive trust that is a building block to success in the sport, they stay connected as keyboard warriors

Maybe a little too much,

Team will be the 14th franchise in Junior B league

MARIO BARTEL mbartel@tricitynews.com

Junior hockey is returning to Port Coquitlam

Thanks to Instagram

Rob Toor, a Vancouver lawyer and volunteer coach in the PoCo Pirates minor hockey association, said it was a positive response to a generic PoCo junior hockey account on the social media platform that convinced him the time is right to put a Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) team into the city’s new said Hrynew when asked how many hours they play

TEAM STRATEGY

Chiu, the consensus video game champion, said the team strategy it takes to be successful in Rocket League transfers to the curling rink as they learn how each other thinks and reacts under stressful situations

Ken Krause, who coaches the team along with Ken Britz from Chilliwack, said the boys’ friendship makes his job easier

“I’ve coached teams that don’t like each other and it makes for a long year,” he said

Krause said after the boys finished third at last year’s provincials, just missing their chance to move on to nationals, they took the bit in their teeth to do what it takes to get their curling to the next level

That’s meant a lot of hours on the ice throwing and sweeping rocks and in the gym working on their cardio, strength and flexibility

“There’s a lot of repetition to develop muscle memory,” he said

Hrynew added they need to have the stamina to be able to keep their sweeping strong and precise through the gruelling schedule of major competitions like nationals where they can play up to three games a day

Not Too Cocky

Krause said the team’s attention to detail allows him to direct his energy at smoothing out their mental approach so they can maintain their confidence and not get rattled with things go awry

“We do a lot of talking to build them up, but we don’t want to get cocky,” he said

It’s all about having that belief in themselves and each other, added Tam

“We want to make each other better”

It’s a formula that got them this far, Krause said

“They really feel they belong”

Community Centre

The still-unnamed team will be the 14th franchise in the Junior B league that stretches from North Vancouver to Chilliwack It will begin play next season

The Port Coquitlam Buckaroos played in the same league when it was known as the Pacific International Junior

Hockey League from 1992 to 2006 The team then disembarked from the old Rec Centre to Port Moody, where it still plays as the Panthers

Toor said his experience coaching a U18 rep team in the Pirates minor system showed him there’s a need to provide emerging young players an opportunity to continue their development close to home So last April he launched the social media campaign to determine if there was enough fan interest to support a junior hockey venture

“There’s amazing passion for hockey in the community,” Toor said following the official announcement Thursday of the new team at centre ice of the Jon Baillie arena where it will be based “People really want a local team to identify with”

Discussions with the league, City and its minor hockey association commenced to determine how the social media response