Five young curlers from Steinbach competed in the first ever U15 RockFest Prairies curling event which was held in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. 

There were 96 qualifying curlers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and Steinbach was proudly represented by Brooklyn Wiebe, Katy Stepaniuk, Ahinoam Ruka, Brody Bennett and Leo Falk. 

“To be a part of that many young curlers at a pretty good level, it was a lot of excitement and nerves,” says Gord Oakley, co-coordinator of Steinbach's Junior Curling Program. “The kids were nervous at times, and it showed. But they settled in, the organizers did a great job and the kids settled in quickly.” 

The curlers competed in singles skill's competition and in the new triples format. 

Wiebe and Bennett scored high in the standings. 

“They both shot lights out, it was really good to watch,” says Oakley. “And when you consider out of 96 kids, half female, half male, Brooklyn advanced obviously on the female side and Brody on the male side, to be in the top 12 of the group like that was very, very impressive.” 

The five curlers from Steinbach ended their weekend competition by attending the quarter-final game at the Brier, meeting curling greats Brad Gushue, Jill Officer, and Arnold Asham. 

Oakley says there are no words to describe what an event like this can do for the young curlers in developing their skills and feeding their passion for the sport.