Thomas and Bayly Scoffin, siblings and lifelong Whitehorse residents, are bound for the Canadian men’s and women’s curling championships — the Brier and the Scotties — along with their respective teams.
The siblings and their teammates secured the right to represent the Yukon at the tournaments after stand-out play during the territorial playdown, held in Whitehorse from Jan. 11 to 14. For the unaware, “playdowns” are curling events to determine who will represent a given jurisdiction in national-level championships.
Bayly, 21, and her teammates are off to Calgary in February to participate in the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The championship event will be held from Feb. 16 to 25.
“I’m super excited about going to the Scotties because it’s in Calgary, where I go to school, so all my friends can come watch. And my teammate Raylan is from Calgary, actually. So her whole family is here,” Bayly told the News by phone from Calgary.
Bayly serves as skip on the team, which includes members Kimberly Tuor, Raelyn Helston, Kerry Foster and alternate Helen Strong, who is Bayly and Thomas’ mother.
Both Bayly and Helston are currently based in Calgary for school, so they’ll be practising separately from their teammates in Whitehorse. However, the team will unite in Calgary before the tournament to practise together.
It’s Bayly’s first time making it to the Scotties, a tournament she’s always wanted to participate in.
“I think in 2020 or 2021, I also competed in the playdowns but finished second, so we didn’t get to go. But this year, it all worked out for us,” Bayly said.
However, Bayly is not new to competitive curling: She has participated in three under-21 junior nationals and the mixed double nationals with her father. She highlights the latter tournament as a particularly special experience because she competed alongside her dad.
Asked about her and her teammates’ expectations for their performance at the Scotties, Bayly said they’re keeping their expectations in check and just aiming to have fun.
“I think we’ll definitely win a few games. I think that our main goal is just to have fun and enjoy the experience of being at a national event together,” she said.
Speaking to his sister and her teammates’ accomplishments, 29-year-old Thomas said he’s “super impressed” with how they’ve played.
“As a brother, I’m really excited and really proud of her. And yeah, I think they’re going to do great for us over in Calgary,” Thomas told the News.
Both Thomas and Bayly grew up around curling, spending considerable time at the Whitehorse Curling Club throughout their youth.
“I’ve been curling my whole life, for as long as I can remember. It’s been in the family for generations, really, and so I grew up at the curling club,” Thomas said.
He added, “I was lucky enough to be able to compete in a lot of national championships at a young age, and that’s kind of what spurred me in my curling career.”
At the recent playdowns in Whitehorse, Thomas and his teammates’ performance secured them a spot to represent the Yukon at the 2024 Brier. This year’s Brier will be held from March 1 to 10 in Regina and will be Thomas’ fifth appearance at the tournament.
Like his sister, Thomas is the skip on his team. His teammates are Evan Latos, Joe Wallingham, Trygg Jensen and Kevin Patterson. Thomas and Bayly’s dad, Wade Scoffin, will serve as the alternate for Thomas and his teammates.
Thomas is optimistic that the four-man Yukon team he’s a part of will enjoy their best performance yet at the Brier, although he cautions about setting expectations too high.
“I expect our performance to be our best one yet. Now, does that translate into wins and losses? Not all the time, especially in curling — anything can happen at any given moment. And so, we tend to focus a little bit less on the outcome and the wins and losses versus more of our process-related goals,” Thomas said.
In addition to numerous appearances at the Brier, Thomas participated in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Scoffin and his three teammates secured a bronze medal at the games.
Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com