Hogeboom sisters square off in opener at 2026 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships

With action at the 2026 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships debuting on Sunday from the McIntyre Curling Club in Timmins, Ont., a palpable fervor is stewing amongst the 21 male and 21 female teams in contention for their respective Canadian crowns.

And with plenty of returning U-18 athletes on this year’s national stage from the 2025 iteration of the U-18 championships, there are bound to be some rivalries afoot.

Said rivalries can take on many forms; provincial/territorial pride, sibling conflicts, or even former teammates facing off with a score to settle.

But what if you had all three of those examples combined into a single super-rivalry? It’s a goldilocks zone too wild to conceive and too farfetched to be plausible, right?

Alas, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and that’s the reality that faced Team British Columbia #2 alternate Kaylee

Hogeboom, skipped by Ariana Wu (0-1; Surrey), and Team Saskatchewan second Abby Hogeboom, skipped by Renee Wood (1-0; Saskatoon) within the pressure-cooker environment of the 2026 national U-18 championship.

And as the hand of fate would have it, the two found themselves facing off in the opening match of their respective 2026 Canadian U-18 campaigns, where Team Saskatchewan would emerge with a 7-3 win over the pacific coasters on Sunday afternoon.

The Hogeboom sisters competed together as teammates at the 2025 Canadian U-18 championship in Saskatoon as the home-team representative, finishing 9^th overall in the field, but now find themselves on different teams representing different provinces for the first time.

Though this interprovincial rivalry may not have the same shot in the arm as it did during the 1997 Scott Tournament of Hearts matchup between Saskatchewan’s Sandra Schmirler and British Columbia’s Kelley Law, the two Hogebooms had their eyes both set on victory.

“I was just cheering for good shots,” said Abby Hogeboom after the win. “I felt like (Kaylee) was making them, so I was proud of her for that.”

Abby hasn’t let playing against her sister and former skip cloud her or her team’s objectives at the U-18 championships, but says that the victory over his sister is a welcome one on her team’s path.

“It’s a win,” said Abby Hogeboom. “I was mostly just cheering for shots, and there were a lot of good ones that gamed, so that’s good. The objective (at this event) is a medal.”

Kaylee, however, contests what her sister argues is a win.

“She wasn’t playing; it doesn’t count,” laughed Kaylee Hogeboom. “There we’re no stakes on the game. I was just really happy to see her here as the alternate of my old Sask team, so that was really nice.”

Kaylee traded in the prairie green of Team Saskatchewan for the ocean blues of Team British Columbia #2 after relocating to pursue higher education.

“I don’t find it awkward,” said Kaylee of playing against her home province. “Saskatchewan will always have a place in my heart and it’s nice to see everybody again.”

Along with representing a new province, Kaylee is also embracing the transition from front end to back-end player.

“When I play second, it’s very different,” said Kaylee. “I’m not involved in the strategy at all and I’m sweeping more, but I enjoy that. Really just the transition to sweeping more. Sometimes, after a long spiel, I’m dead on my feet but I’ve adjusted pretty well.”

Recapping Sunday morning action on the male side at the 2026 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships, Team Québec #2’s Zachary Janidlo (1-0; Point-Claire) downed Team Manitoba #1 Evan Boutet (0-1; Winnipeg) 8-1 while Team Ontario #2’s Aaron Genjaga (1-0; Missisauga) edged Team Nova Scotia #1’s Elex Lockhart (0-1; Berwick) 5-4. Team Saskatchewan #1’s Brandon Weiss (1-0; Esterhazy) earned its first win over Team Manitoba #2’s Tyler Graham (0-1; Gimli) 7-6 while Team Ontario #1’s Tyler MacTavish (1-0; Waterloo) bested Team Saskatchewan #2’s Quinn Snow (0-1; Saskatoon) 6-4 and Team Alberta #1’s Parker Harris (1-0; Edmonton) doubled up Team Northern Ontario #2’s Jacob Curtis (0-1; Thunder Bay) 6-3. Team New Brunswick’s Evan Hanson (1-0; Fredericton) downed Team Nunavut’s Ciarán Robinson 13-4 and Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s Zachery French (1-0; St. John’s) defeated Team Northwest Territories’ Jasper Willkomm (0-1; Inuvik) 9-3. Team Québec’s Raphaël Tremblay (1-0; Shawinigan) bettered Team Alberta’s Nolan Duncan (0-1; Calgary) 6-3 and Team Northern Ontario’s Riley Winters (1-0; North Bay) enjoyed some home cooking in a 6-4 win over Team Nova Scotia #2’s Henry Salzman (Bridgewater) 6-4.

Action from the 2026 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships resumes Sunday at 8 p.m. (all times Eastern).

Tickets for the 2026 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championship are still available for purchase by clicking here. 

Live scoring, rosters, and draw schedule details can be found at the event website by clicking here.