Have you ever entered a contest and then wondered if anyone ever wins? Have you had high hopes, knowing someone needs to win?
Imagine the excitement in the Barriere home of Daryl and Elizabeth Ekins on Feb. 1, when they received notification that their daughters had won the Future Stars Program Package for the 2025 Montana’s Brier held in Kelowna!
Eva-Mae and Kate-Ann Ekins applied to the Curl Canada Youth Engagement Program by writing about their love of the game and why they wanted to be part of the Future Stars Program. The program provides future youth curlers aged 9–16 with the opportunity to experience and meet Canadian provincial and territorial competitive curlers.
Daryl and Elizabeth accompanied the girls to Kelowna for their whirlwind weekend of celebrity treatment. When they arrived at Prospera Place they were met and presented with commemorative jackets designed after the Brier jackets, then had a photo opportunity with the Brier tankard.
Each group of four Future Stars was assigned to a provincial team of curlers. The Ekins sisters — along with Ella Walker and Christopher Jackson from Kelowna — were assigned the Latimer rink from Nunavut, and the team presented the Future Stars with pins, hats, and memorabilia from Nunavut. This was just the start of the event, but does it get any better?
It sure did! The Future Stars stayed with their host team during warm-up, got to hang out in the scoreboard area, met other teams, and were introduced to the crowd during the pre-game ceremony. What can top that? Getting their picture up on the jumbotron screen! The Future Stars stayed at ice level in VIP seating and cheered on their team, giving and receiving high fives throughout the games.
When asked what special memory they will always cherish, both girls stated that the whole experience was so surreal it was hard to choose. The sisters mentioned how everyone took the time to make their day special. They met with Team Canada Skip Brad Gushue, who was reminded by the crew that he only had 10 seconds to speak with the girls. He spent nearly two minutes speaking with the Future Stars, and encouraging them to continue working hard towards their dreams. Getting their jackets autographed by the professional curlers also ranked high in the experience.
The Barriere Curling Club works hard every season with our Little Rocks Program. Our dedicated volunteer coaches believe in the principle of passing along their knowledge and passion to our junior curlers. We are very proud of Eva-Mae and Kate-Ann for showing initiative and wish them, and all our junior players, great success in their curling futures.
So don’t stop dreaming, and applying for competitions. Someone needs to win, and it might be you! Hurry hard and aim for the stars!
Bernice Randrup is director of the Barriere Curling Club.
