Riversides’ curling team is underway for the 2019-2020 season with their first meeting that took place on October 21. Coach David Romani, who has been playing on and off since he was a junior in high school, said that Riverside’s curling team has never won Provincials, but has won second place three times. “No other sport in the school can make these claims,” said Romani. Romani has been a part of the team at Riverside since 1999; Riverside started it’s curling team three years after the school opened.
The curling team has a duo of brothers, Matthew Fenton, grade 12, and Adam Fenton, grade 10. Romani is happy to have the boys play for Riverside. “They are surprisingly not that competitive with each other, but they are for their sport. They get along very well and are very mature for their age,” said Romani. The Fenton brothers like curling together because they can be constructively critical with each other and rely on each other’s feedback and encouragement. Matthew said that he enjoys curling with his brother, but that Adam can get ‘very tense’ sometimes. Adam said that curling with Matthew is fun because he is a good curler and supports him through the wins and the losses.
Adam Fenton, who is known as “A-Bomb” on the team because he had the most energy for his age, said that one of his favourite memories from curling was when he won fourth at Provincials U18 during the 2018 season. Adam has had many highlights from his curling career. “When I make a shot, I feel good about it because I helped my team get a point, that’s awesome.” Adam is starting his fourth year of club team play and school team play combined.
Matthew Fenton, who has been playing for 5 years, said that he started because of family influence, along with his brother Adam. His favourite curling memory is when he won second for provincial high schools during his grade 9 school year in 2016.
Grade 11 student, Clayton Campbell, who has been curling since his grade nine year, said that he started curling because it seemed like an interesting and unique sport. “Some people view sports as a very physical activity – curling is like yoga; it takes patience, concentration and control,” said Campbell.
Curling is also a big part of Romani’s life as he’s got his whole family interested in the sport. His oldest son tried curling and played for two years, while his youngest son has been curling on and off for a couple of years and is currently on a curling team. Last Christmas, Romani bought his wife curling shoes and signed the two of them up for doubles curling so she could try it. While it is a very social and fun sport, it is not easy as it might look. “She came out and said ‘Oh, this is hard’,” said Romani. “People look and say ‘this is easy’ but when you try it, it’s just not as easy as you thought it was.”
With the season starting up, the boys and girls teams need all the support they can get for a great run this season! Practices are Mondays after school at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.
