Cape St. George -
Chloe Deaves couldn't hold back her emotions when she realized she had accomplished a goal dear to her heart.
The Level 2 student at Piccadilly Central High will wear Newfoundland and Labrador's colours at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S. as a member of the female curling team.
"I cried," Deaves responded when asked how she felt when coach Dianne Ryan told her she had secured a spot on the team.
"I was so excited. I wanted it so bad, and I got it. I was like, 'sweet.'"
Deaves is a member of the talented Amanda Rumboldt rink who curl out of the Caribou Curling Club in Stephenville. Her new teammates on the Canada Games contingent include Corner Brook's Charlotte Woolfrey, and St. John's curlers Carolyn Suley and Heather Croke.
The 16-year-old, who has been curling for nine years, was a spare on the Gail Bailey rink out of the Bruce II Arena in Port aux Basques in 2006. That team won a silver medal at the 2006 Atlantic Under-17 Curling Championship after claiming bragging rights to the Under-17 title in this province.
The Canada Games team was selected after a training camp in St. John's. Deaves put it all on the line and hoped for the best.
"I guess I am confident in myself," she said. "I will go out there and I will feel like I am doing well if that makes sense," she said. "I will try my best and I guess it showed last weekend. I showed what I could do. I tried my hardest."
Deaves brings a good work ethic to the rink every night and she bubbles with enthusiasm. She believes her positive attitude will be welcomed by her fellow teammates when they stack up against the top curlers in the country in Halifax.
She credits Bronwyn Woolfrey, her teammate on the Amanda Rumboldt foursome, as being a big influence on her enthusiastic approach to curling.
"She (Bronwyn) brings out the funny person in me when I am on the ice. I can dance around and sing on the ice," she said.
While the national amateur sports spectacle is more than a year away, Deaves and her teammates will be working hard to mesh as a unit.
Coach Ryan will be able to gauge their progress through various competitions on and off the island leading up to the Games.
No matter what it takes, Deaves is committed for the long haul.
"It's going to take a lot of work travelling back and forth for practices and being prepared for it, but I am 100 per cent committed to being on this team, without a doubt," she said.
Deaves, who credits her father Wayne Deaves and Team Rumboldt coach Susan Curtis for helping her become a good curler, is looking forward to embracing everything the Canada Games brings her way.
"I think it's going to be an unbelievable experience. I can't wait to go," she said. "I think it's a great honour to be able to represent Newfoundland and to be one of the better players in my age category in the province."
