A Stratton-born curler is off to Alberta to take part in another high-level bonspiel.
Trevor Bonot, currently located in Thunder Bay but hailing from the Rainy River District, will be competing in the 2021 Home Hardware Canadian Mixed Doubles in Calgary beginning Thursday, March 18. Bonot is representing northern Ontario and will be taking on other teams from across the country alongside partner Oye-Sem Won.
Bonot isn’t new to playing at the national level, having already gone to the Canada Mixed Doubles during his career, but he shared that this time around will be quite a different experience, for obvious reasons.
“This year is obviously going to be very different in the fact that it’s a bubble, but just the fact that I get to travel is exciting,” he said. “Experiencing it during a national pandemic is something you would never have thought you’d wanted to do, but since we’re here, I’m excited for it.”
Having a number of high-profile curlers from across the country congregate in one area to play offers up a host of health, safety and logistical concerns, and Bonot explained the organizers and teams are taking the event as seriously as they can. He shared that there are a number of restrictions and rules in place to keep everyone healthy leading up to and during the bonspiel.
“We have to have a negative test to board the airplane here,” he said. “We have to isolate for three days before we get on the plane and then we get there, test as soon as we land, and then we have another test on day two after isolating in the hotel room for two days, and then once that test comes back negative we can practice. There are five tests total, so there’s lots of testing. We have two health checks a day at the hotel where we have to get our temperatures taken and answer questions about how we feel.”
Bonot went on to explain that the athletes are confined to what they are calling a “green zone” – a safe area that they will not be allowed to venture out of in order to keep the bonspiel as isolated as possible.
“Only the athletes and certain ice staff and media are allowed in,” he said.
“We can’t leave the green zone, which are the ice surface and the get ready area of the arena, the hotel and the rental car. We can’t go even to, say, a drive-through for Starbucks.”
The impacts of COVID have affected not only the way Bonot and Won will play in Calgary, but even how they prepared for the event throughout the season. Bonot shared that it’s been a tough year in terms of practicing and playing, and the shifting health unit restriction zones have also made it unreliable, particularly when the Thunder Bay region was pushed back into the Grey-Lockdown zone at the end of February.
“However, we’ve been fortunate because in the Grey zone elite athletes or people training for elite events are allowed to continue training,” Bonot said.
“So we got a letter from Curling Canada that our health unit approved allowing us to continue practice at the curling club. We were the only two people in Thunder Bay allowed to practice. We’re fortunate that we get to practice but we don’t get to have any real game situations, we just have to do what we can out there just the two of us.”
Still, even with the lockdowns and restrictions and the lack of play in all areas, Bonot said it’s a big deal for them to be able to play at all, especially as the pandemic derailed their season last year. Now they get to pick up where they left off.
“Last year we had won provincials and the nationals were cancelled basically while we were on our way to it, so we didn’t get to play, and that was understandable,” Bonot said.
“So we were very honoured and proud that the Northern Ontario Curling Association basically acclaimed us as representatives this year because of the fact that we won last year. With the way the seasons went, we were happy we got to play in Thunder Bay until Christmas, but the competitive games weren’t there, so we’re very fortunate. I would have gone anywhere they had these events if we were able to play. I love the game so much, so I’m thrilled we get to compete.”
The Canadian Mixed Doubles bonspiel essentially marks the end of the season for Bonot and Won, though winning the bonspiel will see them moving on to the World Mixed Doubles, which is still tentatively scheduled for April and May. Bonot said the plan is the same whether there are more guaranteed games ahead of them or not.
“Basically we’ll go and play our hearts out,” he said.
“And if we don’t win, that’s ok. We’ll come back and that’s a wrap on the season and we’ll look forward to hopefully getting back on the ice in the fall. I’d just love to have league play back. I really miss bonspiels and tournaments so hopefully that happens soon.”
