CARSTAIRS - Local firefighter Josh Van Arnam and three fellow firefighters from Calgary are off to the Canadian Fire Fighters Curling Association (CFFCA) national championships in Prince Edward Island after winning the Alberta Fire Fighters Association provincial title Jan. 28.
A lifelong Carstairs resident, Van Arnam (third) and his teammates Scott Jordan (skip), Cory Campbell (second) and Richard Brunner (lead) played together for the first time at the provincials in Hanna.
“That was our very first bonspiel together,” he said. “I had literally met the skip at Christmas dinner at the fire hall in Calgary. That was the first time I had ever met the guy, so we went from Christmas dinner to going to P.E.I. together. We are beyond ecstatic.”
A paid, on-call firefighter in Carstairs, Van Arnam, 43, has been curling since childhood.
The team managed to beat the reigning provincial champs in the first match of the Hanna tourney. At that point, they knew they had a good thing going.
“We all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘What just happened?’,” he said.
Asked what the secret to the team’s meteoric rise success could be, he said, “In all honesty we just jelled right from the start. The very first game we were already talking about curling times. We jelled from the very first rock.”
With all four members of the team being active firefighters, the chances of getting in a lot of practice before nationals is slim, he said.
“Hopefully we can get together at least a couple of times,” he said. “All of our schedules are super busy.”
The team plans to travel together to the CFFCA national championships, which take place March 23 to April 2.
