4 Bemidji Curlers Return to Junior U21 National Championships in Bowling Green

For a second straight year, a team of Bemidji curlers is headed to the Junior U21 National Championships of curling.

Last year, two girls teams from Bemidji qualified to compete at the championships in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. One of the teams was comprised entirely of high school seniors that have all since graduated and gone their separate ways. But the younger team—named Team Berg after their skip Nia Berg—is made up of high school underclassmen and one eighth grader, and they are making a return trip to the national event that will be held in Bowling Green next week.

“It means a lot to us and I think this year we have a pretty good chance of going far in it,” said Carol Chance, the team’s lead curler. “We’ve gotten a lot stronger with our communication and our shot calls. It’s always been a lot of fun and we all get along really well.”

“It’s cool because only eight teams get to go, so it’s good that we’re one of those eight,” added Ella Willford. “I think we keep a pretty good attitude during the game. We don’t really get down on ourselves that much and just have confidence that we all can make our shots and do good.”

Team Berg finished sixth overall at last year’s championships and are hoping their experience there will help guide them this time around when they hit the sheets on Tuesday.

“Last year they were worried,” said head coach Jeremy Berg. “They’re so much younger than everybody, but now they know they can beat any team. The confidence is awesome to see these girls and they enjoy each other so much. They’re playing well, so I think they’re excited to try it again.”

“We know a lot more of how it’s going to end out, how the play down is going to work, and just how we can do better this year,” said Chance. “We were talking about strategy and how we might want to play this coming weekend so we have a better idea of how maybe we should be throwing rocks and how our strategy should go throughout our games.”

Team Berg will be the only team at the Junior U21 National Championships this year where the entire team is made up of curlers from the same town. The full team is comprised of:

• Skip: Nia Berg
• Third: Ella Willford
• Second: Solveig Berg
• Lead: Carol Chance