Schneider is set to play in his fourth career Brier with the other three as a member of Team Saskatchewan
Published Feb 02, 2024 • 4 minute read
Besides Team Saskatchewan, there will be another hometown favourite at the Brier in Regina this year.
After winning the B.C. men’s provincial curling championship on Sunday, 32-year-old Regina product Catlin Schneider will skip Team B.C. at the Montana’s Brier in Regina, which is set for Mar. 1 to 10 at the Brandt Centre.
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“Even though blue is on my back, it’s going to feel like I’m almost Team Sask. because of the amount of friends and family that I will have here,” Schneider told the Leader-Post this week. “It will definitely be a little different wearing blue.
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“I’ve only ever worn green.”
The 2024 tournament will be Schneider’s fourth career trip to the Brier, with his first coming in 2017 when he was named an all-star at the third position on Adam Casey’s squad.
In 2020, Schneider played second alongside skip Matt Dunstone, helping Team Saskatchewan bring home a bronze medal.
Most recently, he played third alongside skip Colton Flasch at the 2022 Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., where the team finished in fourth place.
Now, he’s set to skip a team at the Brier for the first time, joining a rink featuring Jason Ginter, Sterling Middleton and Alex Horvath, who all represented B.C. at the Brier last year alongside skip Jacques Gauthier, who left the team this off-season to join Kevin Koe in Alberta.
“There was kind of some shakeups last year and I had an idea that there was going to be an opportunity out there to skip,” said Schneider, who skipped the University of Regina curling team at nationals in 2014. “And I’ve been thinking about skipping for a few years.
“It just worked out that they were looking for a skip and I was ready to fill that role.”
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While it will be the first time Schneider will wear blue at the Brier, he came close in 2018 as a member of Jim Cotter’s B.C. rink that narrowly lost in the provincial final.
That year, the Brier also happened to be in Regina, which makes this year’s win a little more special.
“We went undefeated and then lost the final,” recalled Schneider. “This was kind of a redemption tour and a pretty sweet one for me to be able to come now play in front of my friends and family.”
And Schneider figures there many supporters of his in attendance at the Brier, including others who have curled on the national stage like his dad Jamie, who played for Saskatchewan at the 1990 Brier and sister Lorraine, who represented Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2017.
Schneider got a glimpse of what that support will be like during the provincial championship in B.C., when his girlfriend, sisters and brother-in-law flew out to surprise him.
“That was kind of sweet and only shows me how awesome it’s going to be here when everyone can be here,” said Schneider. “Pretty thankful and pretty appreciative of the opportunity and looking forward to getting ‘er done in Regina.
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“Just the fact that it’s going to be here in my hometown for that many days … it’s going to be just amazing.”
Scary situation
While the Schneider rink put together a smooth 5-3 win over Team Montgomery on Sunday in the final, the group was faced with some adversity during the semi-final game on Saturday morning.
During the eighth end of the match, the mom of Schneider’s lead Alex Horvath, had a stroke in the stands. Medical professionals tended to her right away and got her to the hospital while the game was temporarily delayed.
She is now recovering and in stable condition, but at the time, it was a scary situation for all including Horvath, who hade to make a decision on whether to finish the game or head to the hospital.
“It was difficult for sure,” said Schneider. “His dad kind of gave us the thumbs up, like ‘we’re good, keep going, finish this one off, do it for mom,’ type of thing.
“Once he said, ‘no I’m good, I want to play,’ then I just checked up on him once or twice to make sure all was good.”
Horvath went to the hospital right after Saturday’s game and then was able to make another visit after the championship win.
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“He was able to take the trophy to see her in the hospital on Monday so that was pretty special,” said Schneider. “That was quite the experience and something I don’t wish upon anyone, but Alex handled it really well.
“A lot of prayers going out to her still.”
Other qualified Brier teams:
Team Canada: skip Brad Gushue (21st Brier)Team Northwest Territories: skip Jamie Koe (18th Brier)Team Ontario: skip Scott Howard (ninth Brier)Team Alberta 2 (pre-qualified): skip Brendan Bottcher (eighth Brier)Team Manitoba 2 (pre-qualified): skip Matt Dunstone (sixth Brier)Team Yukon: skip Thomas Scoffin (fifth Brier)Team PEI: skip Tyler Smith (third Brier)Team Nova Scotia: skip Matthew Manuel (second Brier)Team Newfoundland: skip Andrew Symonds (second Brier)Team Northern Ontario: skip Trevor Bonot (first Brier)Team Quebec: skip Jean-Michel Arsenault (first Brier)Team Nunavut: skip Shane Latimer (first Brier)Team Saskatchewan and Team New Brunswick will be determined on Sunday during their respective provincial championships.Team Manitoba 1 and Team Alberta 1 will be determined on Feb. 11, with Team Wildcard rounding out the 18-team field.
tshire@postmedia.com
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