Ironic though it may seem, the recent Runback U18 Championships in Oshawa provided a nice little step forward for the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club foursome of Sophie Perreault, Vivienne Bolestridge, Grace Schmidt and Caitlyn Connors.

Though still a couple of years younger than much of their U18 competition, the second year squad (all but Connors are actually in year three together) had already made the decision to put themselves out there much more this year on a provincial scale.

A run that took them all the way to the finals in Oshawa has only served to justify that decision even more. “We were happy to prove that we have gotten better,” noted Bolestridge, her team reeling off five straight wins before settling for silver.

“We are not nearly as on and off as we were last year. We used to play good – or we would play bad. We now have more confidence in making our shots.”

With Bolestridge, Perreault and Schmidt all in grade 10, a late birthday for the only senior high-schooler on the team (Connors is in grade 11) means that Team Perreault still has two more full years of U18 play available after this one.

And while increased consistency has clearly become apparent, so too has a willingness to immerse themselves in more technical games. “We used to be a real hitting team, always keeping things clean,” said Bolestridge. “Early this year, we starting switching to more draws, more rocks in play.”

“We find that works better for us.”

Of course, having supreme faith in the sweeping tandem does a long way in helping any curler feel more comfortable in knowing that there is at least a little margin of error allowed to their draw weight.

“It’s not that we always relied on our sweepers, but I think we always believed it was way better to be lighter because we knew with our strong sweepers, we could usually bring it into the house versus throwing it through,” said Bolestridge. “We’re a lot more comfortable now with ice conditions that we used to be.”

“We take a lot more time now in time our rocks, getting the time of our weight.”

The team is now just two weeks away from the NOCA U18 Championships in Fort Frances, with the winners moving on to represent Northern Ontario at nationals in Timmins in February.