N.B. Scotties Tournament curlers get support from home club

A ban on spectators at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts isn't stopping New Brunswick's Team Crawford from feeling the support from friends and fans.

The curling team has swept its way to the top of the leader board with four wins and no losses as of Monday morning following its defeat of P.E.I., and skip Andrea Crawford says the support that's come with it hasn't gone unnoticed.

"I can tell you that we definitely feel the support. I mean, from the Capital Winter Club alone, all of our fans and then our friends and family," said Crawford, speaking on Shift NB.

"[Capital Winter Club manager] Jaime [Watson] has been awesome at sending us some videos too of the fans watching, and just the excitement, I guess, in the club. We get so much from that."

New Brunswick's Wayne Tallon has been keeping a close watch since the tournament kicked off last Friday in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Tallon was the skip of the 2013 Canadian Senior championship team, and won the 2014 World Senior championship.

In the last season, he's spent much of his free time at the Capital Winter Club, paying close attention to Crawford and her team as they trained for the Scotties.

"They're playing very well and actually, I'm not surprised," Tallon said.

"I say that because they are members of the Capital Winter Club and I'm around here quite a bit, and I've watched them prepare for this championship, and the time that they've put into it. They've been practicing and working so hard.

The annual Canadian women's curling championship takes 18 teams, represented by the country's provinces and territories, and divides them into two pools of nine teams, Tallon said.

Each team plays eight round-robin matches within its pool, and the top three teams from each pool advance to the finals, an elimination-style contest to decide the ultimate winner.

Tallon said the winning streak of Crawford's Pool A team gives them  strong momentum for their remaining four round-robin matches.

"You know, if you start off poorly, obviously you're not as confident. But if you start off good like she's done now, her confidence, it's going to be, you know, sky-high, which should be able to carry her through the last four games in that round-robin play."

Jaime Watson, manager of the Capital Winter Club, said she's proud of the team and what the members represent for younger curlers.