The U15 RockFest curling competition is coming to the Yukon.

The event takes place Jan. 13 at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

The Yukon competition will qualify curlers under 15 years of age for the U15 RockFest West regional competition, which is part of the national U15 Rockfest competition.

Other regional competitions include U15 RockFest Prairies, Rockfest East, and Rockfest Atlantic.

Unlike regular curling playdowns, the Yukon stage of Rockfest is a little bit different. Curling Yukon’s President, Laura Eby, explained how it’s going to work.

“It’s not team-oriented, it’s singles. So, essentially, we run what we’re gonna call a championship event, but it’s for singles only. So individuals will sign up as long as they’re under 15. And then we will host a one-day event where all the individuals that have signed up will throw 12 different shots. And then we’ll score them based on which whichever shot they’re doing, and then they’ll have to mulligans. So if they have a couple shots that they scored low in, they can try those again, and then use the better score, of course. From there, we send the five girls and five boys that scored the best.”

Eby explained the goal of the Rockfest.

“Curling Canada’s trying to get more ideas involved in curling because it seems to be losing steam across the country. So they’re coming up with all kinds of junior incentives.”

In fact, they’ve created a U12 program recently.

“The hope is to get more juniors excited about the event. And it works really good for us in the Yukon, because it’s hard for us to get four gender-specific teams, either boys or girls, four athletes that are committed. We may find a couple that have lots of commitment and then the couple that – not so much. So this allows for those that have a lot of commitment to go out and play with other kids that have a lot of commitment.”

The juniors selected in the Yukon will go to regionals in Sherwood Park, Alta. in March. The regionals run March 15-17 at the Sherwood Park Curling Club and are hosted by Curling Alberta.

“They’ll have the opportunity to play with all the other kids from our region and hopefully, they’ll really like it and that will be their path going forward.”

The format for the regionals will differ from the Yukon competition. When the young curlers get to the regionals, they’ll be put into doubles, triples and four-person teams with kids from B.C., Alberta and the N.W.T. They’ll then play games with their respective teams.

Triples is a new format in which curlers have an opportunity to try all the different positions.

“It’s kind of cool. It’s a new thing, relatively new. I haven’t played it myself. But it looks really interesting and especially for the juniors because then they get the opportunity to play in in different positions.”

Acccording to a Curling Canada press release, Steve Laycock, U15 Coach and 10-time Brier competitor said, “It is especially nice to see the Triples disciplines being used for U15 play. Triples allows new curlers a chance to try every position during the game which I think is important at that stage of athlete development.”

“The skip is kind of the person who has the strategic background,” said Eby. “Each position and has its own goal.”

As for how many competitors are expected in the Yukon competition, Eby said, “I’m hoping that we’ll have enough to actually do a pick from but it sounds like we might just have enough to send. I don’t know.

“I think it’s important that they go through that drill anyway. And then they can kind of compete against their peers and then, see what it’s like and then go from there.”

The deadline for young Yukon curlers to sign up is Dec. 21.

The fee to register is $50.

“I think it’s important to have some commitment,” pointed out Eby.

She explained what she’s looking for from the young athletes.

“Accuracy of their shots, of course. There’s some pretty difficult shots. They have to do a hit and roll, which can be difficult for juniors and a guard and a hit and stay. And it depends where the rock rolls to in the rings. It’s kind of all scored based on that. There’s doubles that they have to make. When you get those finish shots, it can be a bit difficult, but we’re hoping they’re practicing. I’ve been keeping everyone in the loop and hopefully they’ve downloaded the singles app and are out there practicing now.”

When asked what Rockfest means to young curlers in the Yukon, Eby responded, “I think it’s a step in the right direction, for sure. And hopefully those that have a keen interest in curling will continue. Even if we have to put them on adult teams or whatever, hopefully, that will give them the incentive to keep going.”

Eby added, “I’m just really thrilled to see Curling Canada stepping it up and helping us try to encourage junior curlers again. Without Junior curlers, the sport of curling can no longer be. Those of us that have been doing it for years and years and years eventually are not going to be doing it. We need the next generation up and running in the curling centres.”