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Middleton nets award for curling success

Burnaby’s Sterling Middleton has been there before. Curling has taken him to a lot of new places and experiences. So to have Curl B.C.
Team Tardi
Burnaby's Sterling Middleton, third from the left, shares in the victory with his Team Tardi squad after the B.C. junior championships last year.

Burnaby’s Sterling Middleton has been there before.
Curling has taken him to a lot of new places and experiences.
So to have Curl B.C. name him and skip Tyler Tardi as the joint 2017 Junior Male Athletes of the Year, along with their team being voted Team of the Year, is just icing on the cake.
“It’s real cool to get the recognition for Tyler and myself and the team,” Middleton said. “It’s for what we have done, but it reaffirms not just the success but also what we’ve done beyond that, the practices, eating well, and everything.”
The Tardi rink – which includes second Jordan Tardi and lead Nicholas Meister – became the first B.C. men’s team to capture the Canadian junior men’s title since 2000, and competed at the 2017 world junior championships in South Korea. At the worlds, the foursome was bounced from the medal round in a tiebreaker with Norway.
A Burnaby resident while attending Douglas College, Middleton said the national title was a special accomplishment.
“I guess the highlight for me was competing and winning the Canadian championship,” he said. “Our goal each year is to get there and do well, so to achieve it and play well for a whole week was special.”
They defeated Team Ontario 9-7 in the final for the national title.
He and Tardi later joined up with second Derek Chandler and lead Scott Gray to finish third at the first-ever Canadian under-18 curling championships last month in Moncton, NB.
Middleton, the third and vice-skip on the team, has just wrapped up his first year of studies at Douglas College in New Westminster. The squad calls Cloverdale and Royal City curling rinks as its home ice. Tardi is from Cloverdale, and it is in the fortuitousness of their pairing three years ago at the Canada Games that set their path together.
“We did really well together and fit well, and we’ve played together for a couple of seasons now,” said Middleton, 18. “It’s great to be able to fit so well and work so well as a group.”