The long road back to the Alberta Men's U-18 Provincial Curling Championships gets started Friday, February 9, for Turner Valley's Jacob Libbus rink.

They're back at Southern's this weekend in Medicine Hat and Libbus says it's never easy to repeat as champs.

"Leading into Southern's, yeah it'll definitely be a little tougher. We'll have to strengthen our game and make sure we're practicing every day. Bringing our "A" game to every game and making sure we're prepared is key."

The Libbus team will compete for one of three spots heading to Provincials in Okotoks March 1 to 4.