Team Aitken sweep to victory in Stirling Perthshire curler thrilled with competitive return
Connor Boyle and Mitchell Brown (right)
Perthshire curler Mili Smith enjoyed a successful first competitive outing with Team Aitken.
The former Perth Academy student took to the ice last week with a newly-formed line-up including Gina Aitken, Rebecca Morrison and Sophie Sinclair.
It would be reasonable to think, being a new team, the quartet would require time to get up to full speed. But victory at the September Shoot-Out event, held at the National Curling Academy in Stirling, provided the evidence to suggest this is a team packed with great potential.
They defeated Team Muirhead 8-4 in the final to make it a memorable return to action following the COVID-19 shutdown.
Smith, from Guildtown, said: “The event was definitely something to look forward to - and let us put our training into practice.
“As a new team the best way for us to learn and find a flow is to get experience against other teams, so we were learning every game.
“This new team was formed in May time so throughout lockdown we did as much work and organising online as we could until we were able to start training together in August.
“There were lots of team calls with our coach and planning as much as possible for the season ahead. There’s been so much uncertainty that we were just excited to get to play our first competition as a team.
“We knew there was a mix of opposition and it’s always good to get experience in finals playing against the likes of Team Muirhead.
“It’s still early days but if we keep learning at the pace we are, our team is only going to get better and gain some experience - and a bit of confidence.”
The competition calendar moving forward remains hazy due to the pandemic but Smith and Team Aitken harbour big ambition to build on this opening victory.
“It’s all very uncertain, like everything at the minute,” Smith explained. “We are hoping to get a few competitions in Switzerland if things look safe enough.
“We are just going to have to make the most of what few competitions can go ahead.”
In the men’s competition at the September Shoot-Out, Scottish champions Team Mouat secured the win. But they were pushed all the way in the final against Team Whyte, whose ranks include Perth’s Duncan McFadzean and Robin Brydone.