Junior women's curling team ends Nunavut's 64 game losing streak

Nights are long this time of year in Nunavut, we all know that.

But not as long as the losing streak that the territory's junior curling teams had been on. Had being the operative word.

Since the Arctic territory was first invited to take part in the Canadian Junior Curling Championships, in 2013, both the young men's and young women's teams had failed to score a single victory over any opponent. Nine losses each in that first year, nine losses each in the second. And the third. Add an oh and five start for both again at this year's nationals in Stratford, Ontario. Do the math and you ring up a total of 64 straight losses.

That streak, however, stopped on Tuesday night, with Nunavut's junior women scoring a decisive 7-3 win over Northwest Territories, in eight ends.

They didn't celebrate like they won the whole thing, they didn't hoot and holler. They shook hands with the vanquished, hugged a bit and then assembled for a picture near the scoreboard, at the request of a Curling Canada official.

“It was definitely a long journey to this point,” said 16-year-old skip Sadie Pinksen, a grade 10 student at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit. For her and teammate Christianne West, who plays third, it was the full journey. They've each held those positions since Nunavut's first foray at nationals, taking on the task of representing their home at the tender age of 13, back in 2013. They'd each been there for the first 32 losses. Second Kaitlin MacDonald, 17, joined them last year. Their lead, 13-year-old Melicia Elizaga, is playing in her first junior championship. Playing, in fact, in her first major bonspiel of any kind.

“We knew it could be a long time (before counting a win) but we were willing to fight for that," said Pinksen, who will be Nunavut's alternate player at this year's Scotties. "And we did.”

“I’m really proud that my team has kept our heads up this high and it’s brought us to where we are now, a national win. I’m really proud of that.”

This was a popular win. As I spoke with the team's coach, Donalda Mattie, a group from another team, another sheet - players, coaches and other supporters - passed by. When they saw her they could not contain their happiness over the Nunavut win.

“Wow! That’s F’ing historic!," one of them gushed. "It’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

“It’s not easy to lose time after time,” said Mattie, singing the praises of her girls. “It’s tough for the kids from Iqaluit, from Nunavut, to compete," she continued. "Because they just don’t have the teams to compete with, they don’t have the expertise that some of these teams have at the ready.”

Mattie, who joined the team last year, helping to coach them alongside Lynn Kreviazuk, has made the trek from her home in Antigonish, Nova Scotia on a couple of occasions this season. If there is a lack of competition in the northern territories, there is also a lack of major coaching infrastructure as the sport attempts to take a firmer root in the frozen tundra.

“They’re an incredible bunch of girls," said Mattie, who then verbalized what we all might be thinking about an odyssey that would see us ending up on the short end of the scoreboard time and time and time again. "I don’t know if I could do this three years in a row with losing that many times in a row," she said, shaking her head. "But that makes this win even more sweet, right? And you learn something from every game that you lose.”

That didn't really seem a concern for Pinksen, who may be naturally wired for an ability to keep perspective. Or, perhaps, it's a trait that was forged in the crucible of 32 straight losses. Whatever the reason, she seems to have it. Asked if all the losing had ever made her feel like quitting, her response was a mature one.

"It wasn’t particularly frustrating," she said. "We had to just know that we were getting better. We kept that in our minds and it pushed us forward.”

“It got a little bit hard sometimes," she added. "But what kept us going was knowing that we were always improving. We have great support from our parents, from the other teams, the other coaches. They’re always being very supportive. That definitely kept us going."

Moments after the junior women had come off the ice, their male counterparts left, too, on the downside of a 14 - nothing score against Newfoundland & Labrador. Their disappointment, though, seemed to be overtaken by the knowledge that Nunavut's drought was over.

One and sixty-five now.

But, that one is much more important than the sixty-five.

Because, like the end of a long winter's night, daylight has finally come for Nunavut curling.