This Torbay teen is at the helm of Canada's curling team at the Youth Olympics
Nathan Young named skip, while C.B.S. curler Sam Follett will travel as alternate
Canada is sending 78 of its top athletic youth to Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday to compete in the third Youth Olympic Games, and among them will be Nathan Young of Torbay.
The 17-year-old will be representing Canada in curling, a sport he's been playing for 11 years.
What's more, Young will be the skip.
"It's very exciting," Young said on Monday. "When all the clothes came in, the Team Canada clothes and the curling clothes, as it gets closer it gets that much more real."
Teenage curlers from across the country submitted applications to Curling Canada. From there Curling Canada scouted its applicants at the Canada Games and the under-18 national tournament.
Young was scouted while playing with his junior team at the Canada Games, representing Newfoundland and Labrador.
Co-ed tournament
The Canadian rink had to come together quickly, only spending time with each other on four different occasions over the last few months, including a bonspiel in Ottawa.
On Thursday the group will get its first international test as a unit.
The division is co-ed, with Young at the helm for Canada, Lauren Rajala from Sudbury, Ont. as the lead, Jaedon Neuert as the second from Winnipeg and Emily Deschenes from Ottawa as third.
The team will also be travelling with two substitutes which includes another local curling product in Sam Follett from Conception Bay South, who plays on a junior team with Young and Chantelle Hogue from Saskatchewan.
"Any competitive athlete in Canada, obviously their goal is to eventually represent Canada and wear the maple leaf, and I've been really fortunate to have amazing coaches throughout my short career so far, and amazing teammates that support me," Young said.
The Youth Olympic Games will be Young's first time in Europe, but the young skip won't be travelling solo. Coming with him will be his parents, his sister and grandparents from both sides of his family.
Young said all the company won't add any pressure to what is already one of the biggest moments of his young curling career.
"No matter the outcome over in Switzerland they're just super happy and proud that I'm there in the first place."
With files from Jeremy Eaton