The girls have certainly set the bar high.

When the standard is bringing home a national championship banner once every three weeks, safe to say that those who aspire to follow in the footsteps of the current collection of young female curling talent in Sudbury will more than have their work cut out for them.

As we turned the calendar to March, the Idywylde Golf & Country Club rink of Bella Croisier (skip), Jamie Smith (vice), Piper Croisier (second) and Lauren Rajala (lead) was just in the process of capturing gold at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta.

Exactly 17 days later, it was time for the Laurentian University squad of Kira Brunton (skip), Megan Smith (vice), Alyssa Denyer (second), Emma Johnson (lead/alternate) and Mikaela Cheslock (lead/alternate) to duplicate that feat, earning U Sports national bragging rights with a 7-5 win over the Brock Badgers.

Thankfully, Team Croisier now prepares to head to Sherwood Park (Alberta), site of the 2019 Canadian Under-18 Boys and Girls Curling Championships from April 2nd to 7th, meaning that they will at least have the opportunity to extend the current streak of gold medals making their way back to northern Ontario at a regular intervals.

While that might be asking a lot, even from this exceptionally talented young team, the fact is that Croisier and company are certainly considered one of the favourites entering play next month. It's been an incredible few months, with a start to the 2018-2019 season that had trouble matching up with what was a phenomenal campaign last year now but a distant memory.

“We always talk about the season in different parts, for instance, early season and playoff season,” noted Piper Croisier, the younger of the two sisters. “Our goal is to peak during the playoff season. The early season is just kind of to get us going.”

“Patience is key,” she continued. “You have to trust that everything will come together when you need it to. In the meantime, make sure that you keep fighting and hope to be playing like you know you can.”

Even within the week on a big-time bonspiel itself, ebbs and flows are a reality of life. To some extent, the same could even be said of in-game momentum changes. “We always go into every bonspiel with the idea that we need to get used to the ice and then try and work our way up,” said Piper. “We weren't too concerned at the beginning when we weren't playing great (in Alberta).”

“We were getting the wins, but we knew that we had to step it up if we wanted to win the competition.”

For as much as Team Croisier has accomplished in the past few years, for as much as they have enjoyed big game experience, this is, after all, the Canada Winter Games that we are talking about. “This was a little different, definitely, because it was a pretty big event for us, our number one goal,” acknowledged Rajala.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking in that semi-final and final game. We tried just to focus on one shot at a time and really support each other.”

“I think just being Team Ontario makes you a target,” added Bella Croisier. “I think it's only natural. But honestly, it kind of fuels me, it's not something that we let bother us. Having the experience of being there before is so important. I hadn't played in a national final before that day, but I had played in high pressure finals, and in a sense, it wasn't any different.”

“It really comes down not only to shot-making, but also when you're making those shots, when you're scoring.”

With their feet just barely back on the ground in Sudbury, the girls were off again, travelling the fifteen plus hour car ride to Fort Frances, site of the NOCA U18 provincials, the playdown event they would need to conquer in order to don the green and gold of Northern Ontario in Alberta in two weeks.

“That quick turnaround was a first,” said vice Jamie Smith. “I don't think we've ever come back and then left again the very next day.”

“But I think we really needed that down time, even if it was just two days max,” Rajala chimed in. “We really used that and tried to relax and put the Canada Winter Games behind us and focus on what was next.”

Beyond just the physical grind came the mental challenge of ramping back up after the incredible excitement of winning gold at the Games. “When you are curling for nearly two weeks straight, you're not going to play every game at 100%,” noted Smith. “It's really about building momentum for the important games in order to be successful.”

“We usually have at least one weaker game throughout a competition, so that wasn't necessarily new for us. You want to improve as the week goes on. Thankfully, our best game was the (CWG) final. We were really focused, we were firing on all cylinders. Everything was coming together at the right time.”

And now the challenge of trying to do it all over again. Then again, perhaps that's just the way that you do things, when you're part of the Sudbury female curling delegation.

And before closing off, it's time to send a long overdue shout-out to the very experienced local rink of Lloyd Duhaime (skip), Dick Anderson (vice), Craig Partington (second) and Guy Chartrand (lead), who captured top spot at the prestigious North Bay Mazda Masters Curling Bonspiel earlier this year.