Jason and Colleen Ackerman have an extra teammate on the ice with them this weekend at the 2018 Mixed Doubles Curling Provincials here in Moose Jaw.

Colleen is actually five months pregnant, but that isn't stopping her from competing this weekend at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.

“She's a champ, she's five months pregnant and looks like she's nine, but she's doing good,” said Jason, who is originally from Moose Jaw, but now curls out of the Regina Callie Curling Club.

Colleen has been getting on the ice and throwing a couple of times per week over the past few months to stay sharp and she was ready to go for this weekend. Jason said he's handling the sweeping duties and Collen is taking care of the rest.

“I'm doing all the sweeping, she takes the first shot and the last one and it's easy money,” he said.

One of the interesting aspects of mixed doubles is that it allows husband and wife, or brother and sister, or mom and son, to hit the ice together and compete.

Jason said he really enjoys mixed doubles and the different challenges that it presents, “It's a lot of fun, it's super challenging and there's always a ton of rocks in play,” he said. “We just kind of say that every end is a new game and it kind of is and if you take your foot off the pedal, that's when teams creep back into the game.”

The Ackermans opened provincials with a 6-3 loss to 2013 provincial champions Mike Armstrong and Ashley Quick. They would bounce back with a strong effort in their second game of the day, beating Saskatoon's team of Alexa Dixon and Shane Kitz, 10-3, in Draw 3.

“We're just kind of getting our legs under us, it's not about today, it's about getting to Sunday, so we're just trying to pick-up on the ice and get a feel for it and hopefully we can just keep building and making more shots as every game goes on,” said Jason.

There's 24 teams from around Saskatchewan in Moose Jaw to take part in this year’s mixed doubles provincials.

There's draws on Friday at 9 a.m, noon, 3 and 6 p.m. The action runs throughout the weekend with the championship round hitting the ice starting on Sunday at 9 a.m. and the final is at 3 p.m.

Click here for the full draw and results.