Young skip Horgan getting plenty of experience, support at curling trials

Some of the loudest fans at SaskTel Centre this week won’t overwhelm you in numbers.

Sitting near the top of the lower bowl, the small-yet-mighty group of a dozen or so fans have made the trek from as far away as Halifax to cheer on Tanner Horgan, the youngest skip in the field at the 2021 Tim Hortons Curling Trials.

Dressed in matching blue sweaters with distinctive noisemakers that can be heard anywhere in the building, this travelling pack of family and loved ones rarely misses an opportunity to cheer on the team, no matter where it goes.

“It’s great to be here. It’s always exciting to see our teams do well and especially since all these guys have wanted to go to the Olympics since they were young,” said Rose Beuk, the mom of lead Jonathan Beuk.

“It’s nice to see their dreams happening.”

Horgan, 23, arrived in Saskatoon as the final qualifier for the trials. Not only is he young, it’s the first year for the newly formed rink and Horgan has never had the opportunity to play on such a big stage with thousands of fans cheering and critiquing every one of his decisions.

“The one thing that’s awesome about playing here now in this big event is the crowd,” Horgan said. “The crowd is so knowledgeable and it’s just great to be in a real curling city.”

Jonathan Beuk is the oldest member of the team at 38. He said Horgan’s age may suggest he lacks some experience compared to veteran skips like Brad Gushue, Kevin Koe or Brad Jacobs. But don’t let the baby face fool you.

“He’s young, but he’s got a lot of maturity — more than you’d expect from somebody that young,” Beuk said. “I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, but I played with a lot of older skips that were less mature and less advanced.”

While the results may not be what Horgan’s Kingston-based rink is hoping for so far with a 1-4 record as of Wednesday evening, each game against some of the best curlers in the country only helps in the future.

“You hear the roar of the crowd, everyone’s staring at you and you know you’re on TV. It obviously has an effect on you, but every time you get to experience that, you notice it a little bit less,” Beuk said.

“A lot of people ask, ‘How do you deal with all the pressure of going out on TV and playing for the Olympics?’ The more you do this, the more it feels like another game, and we’re good at curling. If I had to go out there and play lawn bowling in front of a million people, I’d be pretty nervous but we’re all really good at curling so it helps.

“The more experience you get here helps in future games.”

Horgan said the experience is new, but it is not at all surprising to him. He has been curling since he was five, and his dream of competing at the highest level inevitably led him to this moment.

It wasn’t until he was 11 years old watching Kevin Martin’s rink win gold at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games did Horgan realize he wanted to become an Olympian.

“I remember watching the gold-medal game and thinking, ‘This sport is such a spectacle, it’s so unique and it’s such a big part of Canadian culture,’ and I just wanted to see what I could do in it and immerse myself in it,” Horgan said.

To show how young Horgan is, every member of that team aside from Martin himself — Ben Hebert, Marc Kennedy and John Morris — are all in the field this week in Saskatoon trying to get back on an Olympic podium.

Tanner’s mother, Kathy Horgan, might not have thought that wide-eyed child watching the Olympics on TV would eventually compete against those same players, but as the years went on, the realization grew that Horgan can stand up against the best rinks in curling.

“You just support them in all their dreams,” she said. “They work hard at it. If it’s not this year, it will be one day. They’ll achieve their dreams. I can see it one day for sure.”

Horgan takes some added assurance and comfort knowing he can look up and see familiar family and friends wearing his colours in the crowd at any given moment. Support can only go so far, but it sure helps ease the nerves that have got the better of some younger skips in past curling trials.

“We certainly feel like there’s some pull out there for us, so the support has been really nice,” said Horgan, whose support system at the event also includes his brother Jacob (the team’s alternate) and their sister Tracy Fleury (a skip on the women’s side).

You’d think being a curling mom is stressful, watching a skip’s stones narrowly get by a guard as thousands of people anxiously roar as the rock inches closer to the house. Not for Rose Beuk.

“This isn’t anything we have control over,” she said. “It’s something that’s inside of them. Ever since they were little kids they were focused, they worked hard and they’re really driven.”

Jonathan is fascinated by that dynamic of curling and how his mother is able to take everything in stride. You certainly wouldn’t find him very relaxed in a curling crowd.

“I personally find it’s a lot more stressful to watch curling than it is to play, so it’s funny to hear that the fans get less nervous the more experience they get too,” he said.

“At the end of the game, win or lose, they’re just going to be happy to cheer us on and support us any way they can.”