A learning experience is how Team Ackerman is looking at their first trip to the Canadian Junior Curling Championship. The local rink posted a 2-7 record as the Host Team in Prince Albert last week.

Skip Skylar Ackerman said that they're a better team after the week of competing against the best junior teams in the country.

"There's no doubt that we're disappointed with how we finished this week, but we learned a lot, we were in each game and had a great time, we'll have a lot more success now in the future," said Ackerman.

"We met a lot of really great people and friends that we'll have for the rest of our lives, and we've learned a lot of things about the game that will help us moving forward for Canada Games next month."

Team Ackerman second Chantel Hoag delivers a shot during the 2019 Canadian Junior Curling Championship in Prince Albert. (Photo: Lucas Punkari / Prince Albert Daily Herald)

The biggest takeaway for the team was how precise that you have to be on every shot to compete among the best.

"You need to make sure that you get that good rock position if the shot isn't going to be exactly what we called, knowing where it needs to be because the teams here don't let you get away with that," said Ackerman.

The Ackerman rink scored a 15-0 win over Nunavut in their final game of the round robin and then also picked up an 8-4 win over Prince Edward Island in the Seeding Pool.

Ackerman said the win over P.E.I. was one of their highlights coming out of the national championship.

"They're one of the teams that we’ll be competing against next month at the Canada Games and our very first game was against the reigning world champion and that was one of the closest games that we had all week, so it was a great start for us and it was a lot of fun," said Ackerman.

Team Ackerman lead Samantha McLaren during the 2019 Canadian Junior Curling Championship in Prince Albert. (Photo: Lucas Punkari / Prince Albert Daily Herald)

Despite their record, Team Ackerman did some good curling throughout the nine games. Lead Samantha McLaren's performance was recognized with a first-team all-star selection after she shot 82-percent during the tournament.

That will be something for the team to build off as they prepare for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, starting Feb. 15 in Red Deer. 

"We just need to keep practicing, doing what we're doing, keep improving, we've been working hard all season, so hopefully we'll have a lot of success there," said Ackerman.

Alberta completed an 11-0 run to the women's title by beating British Columbia, 9-6, in the final on Sunday. Team B.C. came away with the title in the men's final, winning 7-5 over Manitoba as skip Tyler Tardi captured his third straight junior national championship.