CITY CURLER OFF TO BRIER
DARREN MOULDING TO CURL THIRD FOR TEAM ALBERTA
Moulding a late addition to Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta champion rink — See Page B5
afternoon at the Lethbridge Curling Club, getting in one more practice before winging it east today. “We’ve been practising hard with our coach (Kevin Martin) and I was up in Edmonton over the weekend.”
But the first Lethbridge curler to fly Alberta’s colours at a Brier immediately started putting on the miles after joining the team, replacing third Pat Simmons, who stepped aside due to injury.
“I had nine days to get ready for the Grand Slam in North Battleford, The Meridian. I went from doing very little curling to having to play against the best in the world,” said Moulding, who originally hails from Coaldale.
“We went there and had a good showing and qualified. We beat (Kevin) Koe, (John) Epping and (Steve) Laycock, three top-10 teams in the world that week, and ended up qualifying there.
“We went to Germany and then went to provincials and ran the table there. It was a complete whirlwind, my life changed in two months.”
Team Alberta, which curls out of the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, is rounded out by second Bradley Thiessen and lead Karrick Martin, Kevin’s son.
“Brendan and I competed against each other a lot over the years,” said Moulding. “He’s a younger guy, and he was one of those guys that when you came up through juniors he was a guy you looked at and said ‘He’s going to be good.’
“He’s easy to like and we’ve always gotten along well. His explanation to me was he knew he would get along well with me and that I had the ability they were looking for at the position they were looking for. It was kind of a perfect match and it’s worked out better than we both probably could have expected.”
In fact, things clicked right off the bat.
“We’re both experienced curlers, so in terms of shot-making, it wasn’t that challenging,” he said. “What I was surprised with was how quickly the chemistry came together. We had two practices together and our first game together, we beat Steve Laycock. He’s ranked sixth in the world. We had never played a game together before and since then we’ve improved a lot. I know we have because the way we played in provincials was excellent.
“It’s just been a natural chemistry. I think my strengths complement his strengths. He’s very calm and cerebral and I have a lot of passion and emotion. We balance each other well. Sometimes opposite personalities attract, (but) we are similar in a lot of ways. Brendan is the most talented curler I’ve ever worked with, hands-down. It’s not even a question.”
Moulding has been with the team a little over two months, but their coach has been with them for even less time with Kevin coming on board six weeks ago.
That addition proved key when the foursome headed to Westlock last month for provincials.
“I honestly don’t think we win provincials without him,” said Moulding. “I think we have a chance, but I don’t think we win it without him. He’s given us confidence and knowledge and helped us with the intricacies of what we’re going to face, especially in the Brier now. He went to 12 as a player and really poured his heart into it. You can tell he’s really into it and wants us to do well and I think that inspires our team. If you ask anyone on our team I think they’d say we’ve learned a lot from him.”
Moulding, however, brings his own impressive curling resume to the pebbled ice.
He was the 2003 Alberta Junior champion and national silver medallist that same year and won the 2014 Canadian Mixed Championship.
He has also advanced to the semifinals at six provincials and played in over 10 Grand Slam events.
“I’ve got lots of experience playing against the best teams in the world over the years,” he said. “I had a little gap in my career that when I moved here from Calgary I took the first two or three years focusing on some stability in my career and family. Once I was able achieve that I picked up the curling a little bit more again.”
Over the past two months, the support of Moulding’s wife Anna-Marie and their young son, Brady, has been unwavering.
“My wife has been pretty much a single mom since I got this phone call. I have a 16-month-old son. I get a lot of support from my family,” said Moulding, whose family will join him in Newfoundland this weekend. “Their support is incredible. My wife works fulltime and is a full-time mom. I go and curl and (there’s) never a complaint. She says ‘I support you and I want to see our son watch you chase your dreams.’ It’s amazing.”
After starting off at the Coaldale Granite Club, Moulding joined the Lethbridge Curling Club in time for their move to the westside to the ATB Centre.
As he gets ready to realize his Brier dream, the Lethbridge Curling Club and the local curling population is also firmly behind him.
“It’s very important to get the support of your employers and club and I couldn’t ask for more from the Lethbridge Curling Club,” said Moulding.
“After we won provincials I was made aware that I was the first guy from Lethbridge to wear Alberta colours at the Brier. So that’s an honour. I don’t think that’s been lost on a lot of people around here. They’ve been supportive. The encouragement has been so positive. The people here are awesome. It’s a world-class facility and we have worldclass staff and members. It’s really a great place to be.”
Moulding reflected on what his reaction would be if someone told him in December that he would be heading to this year’s Brier.
“I would have said ‘Did someone pick me up as a fifth? How did I get there?’” he said. “It would have seemed unbelievable and I’ve thought about that, too, where I came from in November until now, and just about how my life has changed. But it just goes to show you that 15 years of playing competitively in men’s, you just keep plugging away and working and grinding. I can’t even tell you the amount of people who told me I would never make it, but there were lots of people who said I would. But if you really believe in something and yourself, you have that fire to not give up on it. It just worked out and I’m thankful for the opportunity, for sure.”
On Saturday, Moulding and Team Alberta will take their first step into the Brier when they take on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue.
“It’s one of the best fields that can be assembled,” said Moulding. “To win any games at all is going to be a challenge. I believe we’ll be in the mix. We think we’ve prepared and we’ve done what we need to do to be competitive. Our goal is to make the playoff and we’re going to have to beat some world-class teams to do it.”