CREDIT: PROVIDED BY SCOTT MCDONALD
London-born Scott McDonald (far left), 32, is heading to the Brier with his team for the first time in his career.

London-raised curler, Scott McDonald, is heading to the Brier in Manitoba March 2 to 10. The Brier is a national curling championship that dates back to 1927. Fifteen teams from across Canada will be heading to the competition and Mc- Donald's team consists of him and Wesley Forget, Scott Chadwick and Jeff Grant all from Kingston, Ont.

Thirty-two-year of McDonald, said he has been curling since he was six years old.

“I started with Little Rocks and I originally started playing in Mississauga,” McDonald said. “I moved to London when I was nine and I have been curling at the Highland Country Club ever since.”

McDonald graduated from the health sciences program at Western in 2008. After graduating, he coached the Fanshawe women's curling team in 2010 and they took home bronze at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship.

“It's a dream come true to be going to [the] Brier,” McDonald said. “[The] Brier is the most iconic event in curling and to get there and be able to represent Ontario and wear the Ontario crest on our backs is going to be such a great experience and one that won't be taken for granted.”

According to McDonald, Forget and him have been playing together for three years and Chadwick and Grant joined their team this season.

“In curling every four years a lot of teams break up because of the Olympics so it gives a chance for new teams to form,” McDonald said. “The team got chatting and figured out it would be a good fit as we would all have the opportunity to practice together and we all wanted to play quite a bit.”

McDonald said that they were able to play 80 games this season to prepare for the Brier.

“We all decided what we wanted out of the year so we put a lot of work in during the summer so we could make sure that we were competitive for our first game,” McDonald said. “Right now all four of us are living a dream and this is really exciting for us.”

In order to prepare for the Brier, McDonald and his team are working on practising both alone and in a team setting.

“We are working on little things like throwing the right weights and technical stuff,” McDonald said. “We are holding a practice on the 24th shortly before we go and we will work on the little things that can help us be successful throughout the week.”

McDonald said that the ultimate goal is to win [the] Brier and that starts with the very first game in the round robin.

“We have to get through the round robin first and if you play well and make your shots and focus on the process hopefully the outcome will take care of itself,” McDonald said. “It's hard not to think about winning the Brier but you want to go out and make the shots and position yourself well in the round robin.”

To learn more about the Brier, visit curling.ca.