Aaron Solberg, 14, has been curling since the age of five. Solberg is one of the curlers that will be competing in the Yukon leg of the U15 Rockfest.

He also has been doing some coaching with the junior curling program in Whitehorse for about the last two years.

The Star spoke with Solberg Sunday and asked him what he likes about the sport.

“I like the way that it includes a lot of people in the sport,” he responded. “I like the way that you can go out on the ice and have a sense of connection to the people out there, the community that the curling club has, the connection between the members, and most of all I love the ability to do something that has been passed down to me.”

Solberg has literally grown up with the sport of curling.

“Somehow I always found a way to get it on the TV,” he recalled.

As for his strengths, Solberg said, “Most importantly, is my commitment to the game. I love curling. I’ll do it as much as possible. Like Saturday mornings, Sundays, during the week, all that. Anytime I can get on the ice. I love to go out on the ice. So my passion for the sport is probably my greatest strength.”

Regarding what he needs to improve on, Solberg said, “With curling, you always want to work on something. So I’m always trying to find new ways to improve and be better than I’ve been before.”

Solberg is looking forward to the U15 Rockfest.

“I’m excited for it. I haven’t done a U15 event before like this. So it would be interesting to compete. And if I do qualify to go down it’d be kind of eye opening to see the amount of actual interest there is for U15 curling.”

Right now, it doesn’t look like Solberg should have too much competition in the Yukon.

“There’s not too many youth athletes that are going to be competing, but for the Rockfest, I do believe it’s just your personal evaluation of how well you curl out on the ice. So for me, it’s just going to be focusing on doing the best I can.

“I do think there will be enough male competitors to have an actual use for the competition rather than just a formality. But if that’s not the case, I’m still excited to go through the trial.”

For preparation, Solberg said he’s been doing a fair amount of practicing and curling with his father Jon on Tuesday league nights.

The Rockfest West regional competition takes place March 15-17 at the Sherwood Park Curling Club. Solberg was asked what kind of competition he was expecting in Alberta.

“I’m not completely sure. I’m not really aware of how many U15 curlers there are and what the interest is in the sport in

other regions. I know in Alberta, and British Columbia, in those places, there is larger amounts of kids willing to try out new sports and do new things. So I think there will probably be ample competition.”

He added that he’s excited to see if his theory about the competition is correct or not.

Solberg said he hasn’t competed in any Outside tournaments yet. However, he does have some experience curling Outside.

“I did go to a high performance curling camp in Ontario, where I did get to meet some other athletes right in around my age. It was kind of a shock to see how many youth curlers there was at this camp.”

The youth curling camp took place in Waterloo, Ontario.

When asked what he thought of their their curling level, Solberg said, “For the most part, right around the same as mine. Of course, with youth curling, like U15 especially, people grow and develop at different stages.”

Solberg said because of that, it’s hard to make a comparison between curlers who have different amounts of natural talent for curling, but added, “There is a lot of equal talent out on the ice.”

He said the camp was a good experience for him.

Solberg is more concerned about how he curls as opposed to how far he can go in the U15 Rockfest.

“For the most part right now, U15 is more about getting used to competition and being able to go and compete and play with other people that you’ve not played with before. So for me, my goal isn’t just gonna be to make high place in the standings, but to play the best game I can and see what results follow.”

Solberg was also asked if one of his aspirations is to one day compete in the Brier.

“That’s definitely one of them,” he replied.

“I haven’t thought too much about it. I know I’m gonna try and keep the sport in my life as much as possible. It’s something that’s kind of embedded into who I am as a person and the way I was raised, so even if it doesn’t mean I’m gonna become, like, 100 per cent professional, I’m still gonna try and find a way to get out on the ice.”