It wasn’t bright lights or TV cameras that made Nicolas Codner of Newfoundland and Labrador realize he was actually a contender at the national men’s curling championship.

It really sinks in for a 15 year old once he arrives at the tournament hotel.

“Just people walking around. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Kevin Koe. My God, that’s Mike McEwen,” Codner said Monday. It was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re in Brier.’

Codner is the fifth for a youth team to make his Brier debut at the Enmax Centre. Skip Nathan Young and deputy Sam Follett are both 19 years old, a year younger than Ben Stringer and a year older than the second Nathan Locke.

With Olympics Brad Gushue not on the provincial court due to the Winter Olympics schedule, Young’s side took advantage and earned an NL spot with a win over Greg Smith.

They played like veterans in a 7-5 win over Thomas Scoffin of Yukon in Friday night’s Brier round-robin opener. Three defeats followed, including a 9-3 loss to Matt Dunstone from Wild Card Two on Monday, but you wouldn’t know it with a smile on their face.

Regardless of the result, the young players are soaking up the experience against the country’s top teams.

“Playing them, so close, and seeing how many shots they made was just amazing,” said Young.

Playing in front of 3,000 fans on opening night didn’t bother the Newfoundland and Labrador teams at all. They jumped to a 5-1 lead and threw in a solid 74 percent in the win.

“This has been a huge learning curve,” said Toby McDonald, who served as team coach with Jeff Thomas. “They’re definitely a good team. They’re like picking our brains. They’re really interested in getting better.”

Young missed his team with an 8-5 record at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta. They won a silver medal last year in the world junior qualifiers in Saskatoon and are building on the upcoming Canada Under-21 playdown in Stratford, Ontario.

“We may be a young team here, but I don’t think we think of ourselves as teenagers at Brier,” said Young. “We think of ourselves as Team Newfoundland and Labrador and we are very happy to be here.”

Codner made his debut on Saturday in a 14-3 loss to Koe. He made all four of his shots after coming on as a substitute late in the seventh.

“It’s the first time I’ve experienced fans — ever — curling,” he said. “I just play curling at the curling club. It’s pretty cool, I must say, when you’re out there. Even if they’re cheering on another sheet, the energy and atmosphere is crazy.”

Newfoundland and Labrador are scheduled to play Tyler Smith from Prince Edward Island on Monday night. The team’s remaining round-robin schedule includes games against Glenn Howard of Ontario, Colton Flasch of Saskatchewan and Brendan Bottcher of Canada.

“Obviously you think you’ll end up in Brier one day but not this young,” Codner said. “It’s amazing. We still have a few games left and it will be amazing to play against some of the best in the world.”

Koe beat Scoffin 9-3 in the morning draw to stay tied with Dunstone at the top of Pool A 4-0. Bottcher (3-0) also maintained his perfect record with an 11-4 win over Smith.

Colton Flasch of Saskatchewan beat James Grattan of New Brunswick 8-4 in another early game.

In the afternoon game, Brad Gushue’s Wild Card One team (4-0) remained unbeaten after an 8-3 win over Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories.

Paul Flemming of Nova Scotia (3-0) maintained his winning streak by holding off Jason Gunnlaugson of Wild Card Three 7-6 in extra time. Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario beat Michael Fournier of Quebec 6-1 and McEwen beat Peter Mackey of Nunavut 18-1.

The competition continues until Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 7, 2022.