Sheldon Wettig is a teacher in Brandon who loves to curl and earlier this month he was part of Team Nunavut that captured a first ever win for the territory.

Nunavut entered the 2023 Brier in London, Ontario with a record of 0-38. That changed when Team Nunavut beat Newfoundland and Labrador 7-4.

Wettig plays third for Team Nunavut and the territory started sending a team to the Brier in 2018. This year their Brier record was 1-7 but that hasn’t dampened his experience of playing on the national stage. “It was incredible. We went in there with reasonable expectations but knowing we had a chance to be competitive and we did that getting our first ever win for Nunavut.”

“It would have been nice to string together a few more wins but that didn’t pan out in our favour.”

This was Sheldon Wettig’s second trip to the Brier and he’s hoping someday to return for another chance of playing in what he considers the greatest curling championship you can play in as a curler.

“That win for sure lights a fire under you, and you want to get back and improve on things. Knowing you’re not that far off from being a regular competitor there. It makes you want to work a little bit harder,” said Wettig.

 

friends at Brier

Sheldon Wettig with curling supporters from Brandon

 

As for the future Sheldon Wettig isn’t sure what lies ahead.

 

“Right now, I don’t know what will happen because it’s a really big commitment and being a teacher presents other challenges making sure you can take the time to do the things you need to do. We’ve had discussions within the groups of guys I went with and overall, the guys would like to go again if it can work.”

No matter what the future holds Wettig says nothing will take away from his experience at the 2023 Brier in London and getting that first ever win for Team Nunavut.

 

“That game was amazing because everyone likes to pull for the underdog. You could feel that grow as the game stayed tight later into the game because every shot we made we got cheers. We even got cheers just looking up at the crowd. After the game you’d look up and you see 5,000 people with most on their feet and cheering for us. It was a surreal moment.”

 

Here's the full interview with Sheldon Wettig: