Matt Hunt got a chance to play at the 2018 Brier against the best curlers in the country as a member of the Greg Smith foursome out of the ReMax Centre in St. John’s.
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The Smith foursome represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the Brier after winning the provincial men’s curling championship with no Brad Gushue in the picture because his rink had already earned a berth in the final as the Canadian champion.
Gushue’s foursome earned an automatic berth in the 2019 Brier as Team Canada so this will leave the door wide open for somebody else to represent Newfoundland and Labrador on the national stage this time around.
Hunt, a 27-year-old Corner Brook native, is still throwing stones a couple of nights a week in St. John’s, but it’s more about having fun doing something he loves than it is about being immersed in the sport and bent on achieving success on a big stage.
He has decided it’s time to put his competitive curling career on hold while he finds his way in the working world. Armed with a master’s degree in physics and a bachelor of science joint degree in mathematics and physics, Hunt is between jobs and could be heading for the mainland to secure a job so his time at the curling rink will be minimal.
He was committed to a hectic curling schedule for the past number of years, but he can no longer punch the time he would need to be at the top of his game so he will try to get used to a week without the broom in hand despite the fact he would have loved another shot at going to the Brier to represent his province.
“I would certainly love to, but I have to get my whole work life settled out first so I kind of had to take a step back this year,” he said.
Hunt said doesn’t know what the future holds, but he plans on throwing stones when he can so he doesn’t lose the edge that helped him become one of the top young curlers in the province.
He hopes to find his way to back to the hack.
“I’m just going to try and keep sharp for the future,” he said.