Perthshire curler Laura Watt is relishing the moment she steps onto the ice with Scotland for the first time this week.
The Auchterarder ace is going for glory with talented Team Henderson at the World Junior B Curling Championships in the Finnish city of Lohja.
Also included in the team are skip Fay Henderson, Robyn Munro and Holly Wilkie-Milne, the latter from Perth.
Watt (18) is very much keeping the national representation in the family and is following in the footsteps of brother Mark who competed in the World Juniors back in 2020. Dad Iain was the coach for that outing.
“Playing for Scotland has always been a goal, especially since my dad and brother wore the Saltire on their backs at the World Junior Championships in February, 2020 where they won the bronze medal,” Watt said.
“This is the first time I’ve represented Scotland and I feel very proud but I think it will feel more special once we get out to Finland and hit the ice.”
Preparations for the event have been going well – including a win at the Scottish Junior Championships – with the most recent run-out a second-place finish in Thun, Switzerland.
Watt only this season joined Team Henderson and she is loving every moment of it.
“It’s been a big step up going into the team but having curled with my team-mate Robyn for four seasons already helped as we know how each other work and it brought some familiarity with us into the change,” she said.
“Being in the British Curling programme gives us lots of support and the help from our team coach Colin who has lots of experience at world junior level has really helped us along the way so far.
“It’s been very busy for us all since we won the Scottish Junior Championships with having exams whilst training at the National Curling Academy three or four times a week individually and as a team. We’ve also been busy with off ice preparations such as making sure we’re all ready to go and final planning and schedule arrangements.”
Team Scotland will open up their World Junior B Championships campaign on Thursday against Ukraine.
That will be followed up with games against Mongolia, Hungary, New Zealand and Austria. Watt expects a tough challenge with whoever they step out onto the ice with. She said: “Our primary goal is to qualify for the World Junior Championships in Füssen, Germany.
“We need to finish top three in order to do this.
“Anything beyond that is a bonus really, and it would be really special to win the event.
“We know some of the nations that we will face in the group stages and they’ve got experience at events like this already so we know it’s going to be tough.
“Every team has the same goal and will be up for the challenge too but we are prepared and feeling good going into the event.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
