‘You dream of doing this’: Schneider embracing hometown Brier

While he’s not wearing green, the 2024 Montana’s Brier at the Brandt Centre is a homecoming for Catlin Schneider.

The skip of the B.C. team at the Canadian men’s curling championship originally is from the Regina area and has appeared in previous Briers wearing the green jacket.

“It’s good. I’m not too focused on the colours; (I’m) just excited to be out there with lots of friends and family around,” Schneider said. “It’s been really fun and exciting so far.

“It’s amazing. We have people flying in from all over B.C. and Edmonton and then all of my friends and family here. It almost feels like a hometown Saskatchewan crowd. It has been awesome.”

Schneider has curled for 24 years and has three previous appearances at the Brier. He was a third on Colton Flasch’s 2022 rink, was on a team skipped by Matt Dunstone in 2020, and played third on Adam Casey’s rink in 2017.

“You take a piece of every experience you have to it. You take everything you have learned from different teammates that you’ve had and different places you’ve been and different games you’ve been in and hope you can go out and kind of put it together,” Schneider said.

Schneider made the move to B.C. for the 2023 season and, in April of that year, replaced Jacques Gauthier as the skip of the defending B.C. champions. The other members of his team are third Jason Ginter, second Sterling Middleton and lead Alex Horvath. Gauthier joined Kevin Koe’s Alberta rink.

“It’s a journey,” Schneider said. “Curling is a bit of a wild sport. I had a lot of success with a lot of different teams and I thought it was my time to step up (to skip) and see if I could do it and it’s going pretty good so far. It’s cool and interesting.

“Life’s crazy. Curling is crazy. It’s wild to think that I’m curling for B.C. in my hometown. I never thought this would happen.”

At the Brier this year, B.C. was 1-2 at the tournament heading into Monday afternoon’s game.

Since Schneider is the import of the team, he still calls Saskatchewan home. That means he has put on quite a few miles to be with his team.

“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s a lot and it’s been a busy year. I’m working full time. I’m part-owner of a solar company as well so we’re always busy. Wherever I am in the world, I’m still working.

“It’s fun and I enjoy it. It keeps me busy. I’m definitely looking forward to a break after the Brier for sure. Maybe (I’ll) hit up a little beach in Mexico or something.”

But for now, he’s enjoying a chance to play a Brier in his hometown.

“It’s pretty special,” Schneider said. “You dream of doing this as a kid. It doesn’t get any better than skipping where you were born and in front of your people. It’s great.”