As of this moment, the Humber men’s curling program finds itself in a great spot.
The team is coming off capturing back-to-back national championships while defeating their provincial arch-rival, the Mohawk Mountaineers, in the process.
It’s a fantastic accomplishment, but the team is looking to continue its recent success moving forward, and that process begins with the work they put in during the offseason.
Matthew Abrams, the team’s second, said it all starts with a year-end interview between coaches and players to debrief thoughts about the season, the areas the team excelled at and what they can improve upon.
Abrams said he likes to take a bit of time off to rest and relax after the long grind of a season.
But he said it’s quickly back to work before long.
“I usually get back into the gym and work a lot on mobility and maintaining and improving my strength so that when it comes time to play, I’m ready to go better than last year,” Abrams said.
He said that while it’s hard to improve technical skills due to a lack of ice availability over the summer, he uses the resources provided by Humber to keep in shape.
“We’re able to keep in touch with therapy services, and the HPC and the trainers give us a program to follow through the offseason,” Abrams said.
Near the end of last summer, the team embarked on a preseason trip to Scotland to compete against some of the best teams in the world.
Abrams said this year, they plan to travel to Alberta to do the same thing.
Second-year player Kevin Genjaga said that these trips have been instrumental to the team’s success from both a chemistry and competitive standpoint.
“Going away, rooming together, and getting to know each other a little more intimately definitely helped us during some of the lower points of this season,” he said.
Genjaga said competing against teams that are former world and Olympic champions has been an eye-opening experience.
Witnessing what it takes to compete at that level has helped the team mature and made the national championships seem light in comparison, he said.
Head Coach Sean Turriff shared the same sentiments.
He said that, despite often losing, there’s plenty to learn about the little details these teams display and that they try to replicate them within their own game.
He said he makes a concerted effort to bring this up to his team after these games.
“Why did we get beat? Was it shot-making? How did they brush? How did they throw? Being on the same sheet with teams like that, the learning is just over the top,” Turriff said.
He said the trip was also a great time to get everyone on the same page in terms of goals and establish what they needed to do to win during the college season.
While the team excelled in a lot of facets this past season, Turriff said one area they can look to improve is their mental approach to the game.
He said given the talent on his team, it’s not a matter of executing shots well but getting in a good headspace during big moments.
“The guys have done pretty well coming through in the clutch, but I think if we want to be stronger, we have to look towards being more mentally tough,” he said.
Like the players, Turriff said he takes advantage of any opportunity to learn more from some of the best coaches in the country.
He said it’s just one of the many reasons why the program has been on such a hot run as of late.
“Any special development opportunities I can get, that’s what I’m always doing,” Turriff said.