In January 2004, in Montague, Prince Edward Island, my son Matthew Smith and his teammates – Brett Gallant, Patrick Callbeck and Mitchell O’Shea and coach Kathie Gallant were competing in the Provincial Junior Playdowns for a possible trip to Victoria. B.C. for the National Karcher Juniors. Now Brett was only 13 years old and his teammates were all 15 years old. They faced stiff competition with teams being as much as six years older and it was unusual to say the least to have such your competitors. But that did not stop them, and they played with everything they had. The game was exciting and nerve wracking to say the least, with a quick phone call between ends on a cell phone the size of a small car to my sister (Patrick’s Mom) with results. She had broken her ankle and was unable to travel to Montague. Then suddenly by the grace of God and a measure, were were declared winners. The excitement was beyond measure. Our buys felt like superstars and many plans were formulated for parents to travel to British Columbia. Matt’s Dad, Allan, at that time had terminal lung cancer. Although the doctor gave Allan permission to make the trip, it was just not possible with too many medical complications and with a broken heart we resigned that him and I would not be making the trip. The team left on February 6th, we were both excited and very sad we would not have this experience with our son. There was no television coverage back then and we received daily phone call on the wins and losses. The boys had a great time in Victoria with a few wins and great memories. On April 20, 2004, Matt’s father Allan passed away, after a two year battle. We were very sad as Allan’s greatest regret was that he would not get to see Matthew grow up and make his own way in life. Well, Matthew is now all grown up and is an engineer. His teammates Brett Gallant (well you now the story there) has had great success with the Gushue team and is awaiting their trip to the Olympics and we wish him only the best. Patrick Callbeck is a skilled carpenter and Mitchell O’Shea is now a lawyer. Curling played a big part in their lives and still does, and we are grateful for the travels, experiences and memories. I would love to win this contest . Thanks for the opportunity.
