Curling fever sweeps London's teen players as Brier games near

For Matthew Mills, watching the Brier is a lot like a playoff hockey game — only it's curling. 

In fact, seeing the games in Calgary in 2015 piqued his interest in the sport, and now he's the vice-skip on the boys' curling team at A.B. Lucas Secondary School.

"It's a very exciting environment to be in at the Brier with all those fans," he said. "I'm excited to go see the pros play again."

As the Tim Horton's Brier tournament draws near, that excitement is growing among London's next generation of curling champs eager to watch the pros play in their own city. 

Eighteen curling teams from across Canada will compete for the Brier tankard at London's Budweiser Gardens March 3 to 12. The winner of the Tim Horton's Brier, Canada's men's curling championships, will go on to the World Championships in Ottawa this April.

"It's really a whole different game watching that level of play compared to even like our high school level. It's really cool. The strategy, the teamwork, just the power, the fantastic accuracy they have on their shots," said Mills. 

 "You really just got to experience it for yourself."

Rheanna Beuerman, skip on the girls' curling team at A.B. Lucas, already has tickets to see a weekend Brier game with her dad. She's hoping to take some tips and tricks from watching the skips play. 

"Hopefully I'll be able to grow my skills," she said, and seeks to learn how teams work together to get rocks going faster and more accurately. 

The Brier will be great for people in London to see that curling is a "big thing" — and realize how much skill and practice it takes to become great at the sport, she said. She hopes it will get more people involved in the curling community. 

"It's kind of an underrated sport," said Beuerman.