Playing the percentages has paid off nicely for Rebecca Roberts.
As skip, her steady hand helped guide her rink from the Caribou Curling Club to the provincial Under-18 female championship in March.
All the while, the Kippens native maintained a 97 per cent average in Level Three studies at Stephenville High School.
This combination of athletic and academic excellence earned the 17-year-old one of the Canadian Curling Association’s For the Love of Curling scholarships.
The $1,000 dollar scholarships include $500 for academics and $500 for curling fees. Roberts was one of only 10 winners across the country and the lone recipient from the province.
She said scanning the list of names of fellow recipients was humbling since many were well-known, national champions at the junior level.
“I’m just a 17-year-old curler for Newfoundland, so it’s good company,” Roberts said Wednesday from her home in Kippens. “I feel very honored.”
Roberts said the award will help with first-year expenses at the University of Toronto, where she intends to study English before possibly pursuing a law degree.
Although she will need to try out for a team in Toronto after curling with the same crew for the past seven years, she said she intends to find a place to toss rocks this winter. While the tryout process will be a new one for Roberts, finding the delicate balance between the sport she loves and her education will not.
She said the rink has always been her solace during busy or stressful times and she hopes this continues in Toronto.
“Being on the ice just relaxes me so that I come home feeling good and refreshed,” she said.
The small town girl admits she will miss her tight-knit group of friends and fellow curlers but said she’s eager for new opportunities in the bustling Ontario capital.
“I’ve gone to school with the same people now for 13 years, so it will be nice to see lots of new faces,” she said.
