Matt Mapletoft - Ryan Stewart Photo

Instant Replay – By Ian Kennedy

We debated who was deserving of the first ever Chatham-Kent Daily Post athlete of the month award. In fact, we found that Chatham-Kent has several outstanding athletes who are worthy of recognition. In the end however, one athlete stood above for the month of January, 2010. And without further adieu, the first ever CKDP athlete of the month is, Matt Mapletoft.

Mapletoft, a Wallaceburg resident won the National Junior Curling Championship as a member of Team Ontario this January. In dramatic fashion, Mapletoft and his Ontario teammate’s squeaked out a 10th end victory, 8-7 over Team Manitoba.

Now, Mapletoft is off to Switzerland in March to represent Canada at the World Junior Curling Championships.

Winning has followed Matt Mapletoft throughout his curling career. As a member of the Wallaceburg District Secondary School curling team, Matt lead his team to a silver medal at OFSAA and also won a Bantam Boys Provincial championship during that time. As a member of the Wilfred Laurier University curling team, Mapletoft won an OUA championship and a CIAU National Championship.

Mapletoft hopes his winning ways are not done yet saying, “the next step for us is to try and bring back the gold medal from the World Championships to cap off this season.”

Matt was taught to curl by his parents during elementary school and later joined the Little Rock Curling program in Wallaceburg and claims that his OFSAA silver medal is his favourite sporting moment from Wallaceburg.

After all of this success, you would think that winning would inflate the ego of the average 20-year-old university student. Not Mapletoft.

I asked Matt the standard sports interview questions, got a few good quotes, and then asked him if he had anything else to add. At this point, when an interview has focused on the success of an athlete, you usually hear them speak of future wins, personal triumphs, and the hard work they put in.

Mapletoft, on the other hand, took the time to thank his community and childhood curling club.

“I have to thank everyone from Wallaceburg and the Sydenham Community Curling Club. I have never seen a town that has been more supportive of an athlete than Wallaceburg and the members of the club there…I just can’t say enough about what the community has done for me.”

I guess this is what makes Matt Mapletoft an elite curler. This composure and ability to see the big picture, even when the world around him is filled with excitement. An ability to focus on one rock at a time, one end at a time, and one goal at a time.

Congratulations Matt Mapletoft on becoming the first recipient of the CKDP’s Athlete of the Month award, winning the Canadian National Junior Curling Championships, and for bringing pride to your community.

Good luck in Switzerland at the World’s Matt.

Let the games begin.

Honourable Mention: Cassandra “Hokey” Langin is a Chatham resident who is currently leading the NCAA’s WCHA in scoring with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Hokey has already received WCHA rookie of the week honours and scored 6 goals and 4 assists in 8 games through the month of January. Other nominees: Ryan Jones, Shaun Suisham.