Talk » They were loud from the get-go and the seats were

SHERBROOKE, Que. -- The off-season sport for Albertas womens softball team is a little unorthodox: they curl. Left-fielder Jocelyn Peterman and pitcher Torri Kleibrink are key players on Albertas team at the Canada Summer Games this week, but they also have deep ties to the world of competitive curling. Peterman is the skip of Canadas junior womens curling champions, while Kleibrink is the daughter of Shannon Kleibrink, who led Canada to bronze at the 2006 Olympics. "Everyone in my familys always played softball in the summer and curling in the winter," said Peterman on Saturday. "Thats how my parents met -- at the curling club. I was sort of born into it." Although Kleibrink curls in her university league with her roommates, fast-pitch softball has always been important in her household. "My mom played a lot, I remember, and when I was about five of six I started playing T-ball," said Kleibrink. "My parents were always my coaches and it just escalated from there." Shannon Kleibrink actually believes softballs been a larger part of her life and her daughters. "Before I ever curled, fastball was my first sport," said Kleibrink. "I played since I was just really little and she started when she was about five or six as well and just fell in love with it. "Curling was a little too slow for her." Shannon Kleibrink still curls competitively but is also very active as a softball coach -- she led her daughter Torri, Peterman and teammates Kami Merrill, Nicole Robertson and Tessa Fioritti to a Junior Western Canadian championship before the five girls were selected to Albertas team for the Canada Summer Games. "Every summer, thats what we do, travel all over Canada just playing ball," said Shannon Kleibrink. The elder Kleibrink hasnt just coached Peterman in softball, but has given her advice on how to improve as a curler. "I played in an event with her this past year and so shes given me a lot of advice both for curling and softball," said Peterman. "My club team for ball, shes our coach and she was also a competitive ball player, so shes given me a lot of advice for both sports, which is neat. "She has a lot of experience just with the mental side of games, things like that." Even though Torri Kleibrink and Peterman have had the chance to draw on Shannons experience at major multi-sport event like the Olympics, there was no need to ask for advice. The 2013 Games in Sherbrooke, Que., are not Petermans first -- she curled for Alberta at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax -- and Torri Kleibrink picked it up around the dinner table. "I guess Ive just heard a lot of it over the years," said Torri. "She went to the Olympics in 2006, so Ive heard a lot about it since then. "Just be prepared for the small rooms and uncomfortable beds, I guess." Although the younger Kleibrink prefers playing softball, its not so easy for Peterman to pick a favourite sport. "I guess I like both equally," said Peterman. "Its easy to do that because of how the seasons go together, they never overlap. Its curling and then right into ball, so I never have to choose." The girls softball finals and bronze-medal games for the Canada Summer Games will be held on Friday, with Alberta considered one of the favourites to win gold. In the meantime, Torri Kleibrink is just enjoying the experience. "Its been awesome. Ive met lots of cool people, gotten lots of cool pins from other teams," said Kleibrink, gesturing to a lanyard around her neck covered in pins. "The opening ceremonies were amazing and its been a lot of fun." Jerseys NFL Wholesale .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Authentic Jerseys Cheap . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. http://www.cheapwholesalejerseyschina.com/ . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Cheap Stitched NFL Jerseys . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. WINNIPEG -- It was a good night for Canadian fighters early on at UFC 161. Fighters from this country won four straight preliminary fights Saturday before a bleeding Sam (Hands of Stone) Stout from London, Ont., tapped out in the third round of his lightweight bout with James Krause. Stone submitted to a guillotine choke, still bleeding profusely from a gash above his right eye off a kick delivered by Krause in the first. The MTS Centre was packed with a sellout crowd of around 15,000 fans who paid anywhere from $50 to $500 to watch the first UFC event to visit Winnipeg. They were loud from the get-go and the seats were filled for the early preliminary bouts, which started a little late. Fans still managed to boost the volume a little for the first of the televised prelims that featured local batamweight Roland Delorme, who fought Edwin (El Freoz) Figueroa. Figueroa threw sharper punches and Delorme went for takedowns to avoid them and try for a submission. He didnt get one and Figueroa almost turned the tables but Delorme still secured a unanimous decision that pleased the hometown crowd. "That was gruelling," Delorme said later as his MMA record improved to 9-1-0 and his UFC record to 3-0-0. "Im happy with the performance. Ive worked my on my submission defennce and I needed that tonight.dddddddddddd" Sean (The Punisher) Pierson from Toronto looked in charge for two of his three rounds against fellow welterweight Kenny Robertson, but Robertson caught him with a flurry of punches that left him dazed in the third. Pierson held on and took the fight with a majority decision, raising his MMA record to 14-6 and his UFC record to 4-2. In early prelim action, it was batamweight Yves (Tiger) Jabouin from Montreal over Dustin (The Disciple) Pague in a split decision and Saskatoons Mitch Clarke over John Maguire in a lightweight contest that went to Clarke on all scorecards. "The difference was the damage I did when I was on top," said Jabouin after spending most of the three rounds grappling on the canvas with Pague. His MMA record is now 19-8 and his UFC record is 4-2. "I landed a ton of hard elbows and I thought I was a shot or two away from finishing it," said Jabouin. "It was a war, I cant wait to go back home and sleep after that." Clarkes family drove in from Saskatoon and friends from Edmonton, the city he fights out of, and he was happy he gave them a win, his first in three UFC fights, although his MMA record is 10-2. "My familys here and that makes it so much better." ' ' '