St. Albert’s Nyla Kurylowich and her Alberta curling team will represent Canada at the Deaf World Curling Championships after winning the national title last week.
Kurylowich (second), Judy Robertson (skip) of Edmonton, Sally Korol (third) of Edmonton and Lynda Taylor (lead) of Stony Plain counted three in the third end against Manitoba en route to a 7-4 championship win at the Jasper Place Curling Club.
The alternate is Victoria Meusel from Olds. Diana Backer, also from St. Albert, is the team’s coach.
“It was so happy,” Kurylowich said in an email interview. “It was so nice to see my two children so excited for me. My son grabbed my gold medal and walked around with it for most of the night.”
The team had played Manitoba twice before in the four-team draw. Opponents included British Colombia, Manitoba and an interprovincial rink from British Colombia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. There were no teams entered in the bonspiel from Eastern Canada.
Kurylowich admitted to some nerves at the start of the game, but said they quickly settled.
“I was a bit nervous because of the big crowd of fans and my whole family watching me play. But when the game started, I felt really calm and played really well throughout the game,” Kurylowich said.
Though Manitoba quickly tied the game, Team Alberta kept counting points until the end.
“They were awesome. I’m very proud of the girls,” said Backer. “They played really well. They had a great game and they showed a lot of composure.”
Team Alberta was 6-0 through the round robin, winning their semifinal to advance to the title game against Manitoba.
Deaf curlers play the game the same way as those who are not hearing impaired, but communicate using American Sign Language and facial expressions.
With the win, Team Alberta advances to the second annual Deaf World Curling Championships in Bern, Switzerland in February 2013.
The win is sweet redemption for Kurylowich, Robertson and Taylor, who were supposed to represent Canada at last year’s International Silent Games in Slovakia. The team was en route to Bratislava when it was announced the games had been cancelled because payments to complete key venues for the games had not been made.
“This means a lot because we didn’t go to the [International Silent Games] due to the cancellation last year and now we are able to go compete again at the international level next year,” Kurylowich said.
Having spent the last eight months curling almost non-stop, the team will now take a break before resuming play next fall in preparation for the world championship, during which time Kurylowich said she will enjoy some “flowers and camping.” The team will also need to do some fundraising for their trip to Bern.
Backer said the team would practice regularly and compete in bonspiels and other games to try and compete against as many different kinds of teams as possible.
“They have an amazing attitude,” Backer said. “That really helps. They are very coachable that way.”
Kurylowich, 36, and her three younger brothers were born profoundly deaf to deaf parents. The graduate of the Alberta School for the Deaf in Edmonton is married with two children and works at the Connect Society Playschool.
