Archive for the ‘ Amateur Curling ’ Category
The 2011-12 Northern Ontario Junior Men’s and Women’s Provincial Championships take place Thursday, January 5 to Sunday, January 8. The Atikokan Curling Club will be hosting the Junior Men while the Sioux Lookout Golf and Curling Club will host the Junior Women. Eight Men’s and Women’s teams are playing in this weekend’s competition after qualifying through playdowns in their respective areas. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams are competing for one spot each in the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Napanee, ON February 4 to 12, 2012.
Games start Thursday, January 5 at 2:00pm with both the Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s final scheduled for 9:00am on Sunday, January 8. If tiebreakers are necessary, the final will take place at 1:00pm.
Junior Women
- Beaudry – Idylwylde
- Gordon – Copper Cliff
- Jones – Thunder Bay
- Keffer – Thunder Bay
- Lilly – Idylwylde
- Ouellet – Longlac
- Poirier – Sioux Lookout
- Szajewski – Keewatin
Junior Men
- Dawson – Sault Ste. Marie
- Glibota - Sault Ste. Marie
- Gravel – Smooth Rock Falls
- Montpellier – Sudbury
- Potter – Thunder Bay
- Smith – Keewatin
- Trottier – Geraldton
- Wark – Thunder Bay
Live scoring for both the Junior Women’s Provincial Championship and the Junior Men’s Provincial Championship are available on Playdowns.com
Playdowns.com – Curling news and playdown results
by Molly Bonner
Action photos courtesy Chinese Curling Association
[click on images to view larger]
Molly throws with Caitlin Moroldo (L) and Mackenzie Lank
YICHUN, China – It’s 10:00 AM here as I begin to write this… and I’ve eaten four pieces of chocolate already. Needless to say, I am making up for all of the Christmas cookies and sweets I am missing out on back in the States.
It’s hard to believe the “most wonderful time of the year” is in full swing as we come to the end of our time in China. Thank goodness I downloaded the “NOW! That’s What I Call Christmas” CD onto my iPhone before this trip (Thanks, Laura, for the suggestion).
I’m planning my jet-lag avoidance strategy the day before my 30-hour travel day home begins, so I can enjoy every waking moment of the season upon my arrival stateside! I am sensing that tea, Starbucks’ lattes (very plural), and Trader Joe’s dark chocolate-covered coffee beans will be heavily relied upon, and that sounds wonderful.
Today is playoff day and our last time at the curling club. Although our team did not qualify, I wanted to spend the day at the rink. I can say with much confidence that this day, already, has been one of my favorites here so far; I was able to enjoy some time chatting with spectators, volunteers, coaches, and competitors while watching the games and enjoying coffee in the “Ice Bar.”
My coffee buddy Katherine, in her volunteer jacket
One person with whom I have visited with is an American transplant in Yichun, who gave me some further insight into the event and the community. Victor is a doctor in Yichun and has served as a liaison to the Organizing Committee due to his involvement in medicine and obvious knowledge of Western culture and people.
In speaking with Victor, I have learned that this event was kept rather private to the general public in Yichun and has been regarded as a prestigious event. In fact, a ticket to the competition costs the same as the average monthly income for a citizen of Yichun, making it far too expensive for many to attend. This explains why the one set of bleachers, which lines the far end of he rink, has not been full all week; this also also acknowledges the fact that curling is still very much a growing and somewhat mysterious sport in China.
Another item I was particularly surprised to hear about concerns the process of snow and ice removal in Yichun – quite the important process for this very cold, wintery city, and something we have been captivated by on a daily basis. Swiss coach Laurie Burrows described the feeling of the temperature best to me this afternoon: it is a “constant chill” in regard our body’s response.
Yichun has workers out on their streets literally all day and night chipping away ice and sweeping away snow. These workers are not paid for their labor, rather they are university students that are required to perform these duties in exchange for their schooling and residence. Furthermore, citizens that may have created a crime, or did not follow a protocol of some sort, may be assigned to one of these less than desirable tasks – I think I’d rather sweep the streets than be detained here.
Denmark carbs up with noodles before the final
I also learned that the city does have a fleet of vehicles that perform snow and ice removal duties; however, they are not used because the free labor is most cost-efficient, so not only does this reduce fuel costs, it also limits air pollution.
In fact, the Chinese people are quite thrifty and conservative in their spending habits, more so in northeastern China as we are told. It’s not uncommon for taxi drivers to get into an argument regarding a fare as small as 3 RMB, which is equivalent to only 47 U.S. cents.
The curling action today has been great to watch and both semifinal matches were very close. In the first one, Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont – who has been curling for her country forever, it seems! – took on Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, who defeated Canada’s Rachel Homan in the 2010 world junior championship final.
In the second semi, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (another world junior winner) challenged China’s top women’s team, skipped by Wang Bingyu… who, of course, won Olympic bronze in Vancouver and also gold at the world women’s championship in South Korea a couple of years earlier.
That’s quite a scoreline, SUI!
After two great semifinals – check out the first two ends of SUI vs CHN at left – the Danish and Swiss ladies advanced to compete in the finals.
Interestingly enough, and as some of you may know, both finalist teams have Canadian coaches: Burrows, as previously mentioned, works with the Swiss and Thomas Evans coaches Team Dupont.
Meanwhile, China’s Wang Bingyu used to be coached by a Canadian but Montreal’s Dan Rafael now coaches the Italian national teams. The editor tells me that Italy’s women stayed in the top eight of the recent European championships, which was good enough to qualify them for the 2012 world championships, so Mr. Rafael is obviously working his magic with the ladies once again!
Switzerland won a thrilling semi before falling in the final
As for the winners of the first Yichun International Ladies Competition…? It was the Danes, who walloped Switzerland 11-4 in a one-sided finale, while China took one in the 10th end to win the bronze medal, 6-5 over Sweden. Denmark had leads of 6-0 and 10-2 but, this being a high-profile exhibition tournament, there were no thoughts of early concession until mathematical elimination!
If there is one thing I appreciate and acknowledge today, more than ever before, it is the fact that the strength of a community lies within its people. Today has given me the opportunity to better get to know all of the wonderful individuals that have made this event possible and a success, no matter how big or small a part they have had.
Although I may have said it a few times (okay, that may be on the low side…) during this trip that I am very much looking forward to my own bed and eating a pizza the moment I am back in America (!) I am very fortunate to have met some fantastic Chinese people and reconnected with curling comrades from around the globe.
What an amazing journey and life experience!
Tonight it’s the Closing Banquet and then the enormous final day of travel begins. There may yet be one final blogpost to come, during a layover in Toronto, so do stay tuned curling fans…
The Curling News
by Molly Bonner [click images to increase size]
China vs Canada (photo by Chinese Curling Association)
YICHUN, China – This trip certainly has two sides to it. Initially, we were tourists in an overwhelmingly chaotic (controlled, however) city, enjoying many historic sights and structures. Now, we are in the full curling swing of competition, located in a much smaller, quieter (and colder!) town.
It seems so long ago that we were atop the Great Wall of China admiring all of the manpower that went into constructing, in ancient times, what is truly a world wonder.
The Opening Ceremonies – where to begin? There were speeches, and more speeches, and the athletes weren’t announced and didn’t have to do a thing! We aren’t complaining, by the way – many enjoyed this, for a change.
And so, it’s become clear that dignitaries are certainly at the forefront of this event; understandably, given the situation and pressure to make Yichun a “curling capital” of China (
see the video here) and the resulting heavy political involvement and media presence.
All of the athletes were lined up in front of the stage to listen to the speeches by dignitaries at the Opening Ceremony; however shortly thereafter, swarms of journalists from local and nationwide media blocked our view to the speakers on stage!
Our dining building in Yichun
We are quite lucky to be staying in the best hotel in Yichun – the Forest Capital Hotel. This hotel is where any and probably all foreign diplomats stay when they’re in town.
As I mentioned before, the city is reminiscent of a plantation: quite a large estate and multiple buildings spanning the land. In the largest and perhaps most grand building on the estate, all those involved with the event gather for three meals a day.
When entering the dining hall you can see which teams have opted to head to the supermarket (fourth floor of the department store) for some staple items: yogurt, fruit, wheat bread, oatmeal, etc.
The buffet of food we are presented with at each meal is a wide variety of traditional Chinese dishes, and most of us have found one or two dishes that we really enjoy. At this point, wowever, many of the athletes are looking forward to the “home cooking” that awaits us.
Skipper Patti at the market
We asked our two translators (somewhat jokingly, but with extreme optimism) when the dessert would be served. Thoughts of chocolate, ice cream, cookies, and cheesecake danced in our heads. Lily informed us that fruit is their dessert; this may explain some cross-cultural physique differences.
Thank goodness the Swiss team is here and handing out chocolates from the Swiss Curling Association’s sponsor, Wernli!)
One item of supreme interest and conversation between many of the competitors is government involvement.
Exhibit A: Heat. As I awoke after our first night’s “rest” in Yichun I quickly realized that heat must be a “hot” commodity. After further discussion, we discovered that heat output is controlled, in fact, by the government! Wow! Which explains the cold living quarters we have become accustomed to. There are no thermostats.
Exhibit B: Internet access. Who would have thought that USA Curling’s website would be regarded as something that must be regulated? Who would anticipate that The Curling News Blog would be difficult to view? (WHAAT?! –Ed.) Facebook, Twitter, many U.S. news-related sites, and other social or sharing types of sites are blocked. Foreign athletes are all noticing that sites they typically access are unaccessible here due to government controls.
My hotel room
On that note, friends and fans of other teams (Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Canada) can stay tuned for messages from your country’s players coming soon… right here, on this blog!
Yichun is preparing for the annual Winter Carnival, and the nearby park has many artists working on their ice sculptures on a daily basis. We hope some are finished in time for us to view before we depart the city!
We were looking forward to a night on the town with Team Canada’s Shannon Kleibrink as a brewery tour and tasting had been planned for us. However, due to the cold temperatures, the pipes are frozen… making the brewery neither tourable nor tastable. On the bright side, you can purchase eight 20-ounce bottles of good beer for only three U.S. dollars. Incredible!
Regarding the competition: the frontrunners right now are China, Denmark, and Sweden who have just one loss each. I speak from experience when I say that you certainly don’t want to let the Swedish ladies get the lead on you in a game… that hit weight is both accurate and deadly!
It’s looking like it will be a tight race for the fourth spot in the playoffs; potentially, three losses might be enough to earn a spot. More game-specific info is forthcoming as the round robin portion of the event comes to a close and playoff time begins. As we will not, unfortunately, be making the playoffs, I will have a bit more time to recap the on-ice action for you.
Thanks for reading, and do pass along the The Curling News web URL to friends and fans!
The Curling News
Kate hanging around at ECC 2009
After a full day of agonizing – should we or shouldn’t we? – we have decided: YES, we shall showcase a rather eye-popping online video.
After all, we are The Curling News and we’ve claimed (ad nauseum) to be the ultimate source of curling info going right back to our first year of 1957, so… if it’s got a curling theme, we are the ones to unearth and magnify it, right? Whatever it is, correct?
So read on, if you dare.
As you should be aware, the 2012 Women of Curling Calendar is now available and sales are going well. The product finally started shipping late last week, so why not make a purchase yourself? You will be supporting a remarkable charitable cause – one which each of the 12 lovely athlete models have chosen to support – and the calendar does make a great holiday gift.
(NOTE: For more great curling-themed holiday gift ideas, make sure you grab the current and check out our feature story on page 10, The Curling News Shopping Guide. It’s got no less than 12 gift ideas for that curling fan of yours: subscribe today)
But back to this eye-popping video.
One of our curling calendar models is veteran Russian curling star Ekaterina Galkina, who has been a mainstay on the Russian national team since their surprise 2006 European championship title. And yes, she is the subject of this video.
Russians and curling have been appearing in the news often, to wit…
• The country recently hosted its first world championship (unfortunately during the Icelandic volcano);
• Galkina and Co. regularly compete each fall on the World Curling Tour in Canada, and even won the 2011 edition of the prestigious Sandra Schmirler Classic;
• Right now, the women’s and men’s teams are battling on home ice at the 2011 European championships in Moscow;
• And, of course, the sport world was quite shocked when the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi was announced as hosts for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Now, our “Kate” may not be a high-profile skip or third – like teammates Liudmila Privivkova and Anna Siderova – and she might not get the attention those back-end players do, but it turns out that our Kate also posed months ago for photo shoot for which a brief promotional video has only recently been found online… and which caused our jaws to, well, drop.
So much for getting attention!
It behooves us to note that this photo shoot was NOT the one commissioned for Galkina’s appearance in the 2012 Women of Curling Calendar. In fact, all of the images in the WoC Calendar are a step away from the racy images that marked the origins of the original Fire On Ice calendars, which debuted before the 2006 Olympics and were published through 2009. So if you are offended by the nature of the content shown in this video (and the content is somewhat explicit, ie. NSFW), rest assured that you will not find the content of the Women of Curling Calendar offensive.
But enough of the preamble. Click here to view this promo video of Kate at an unknown photo shoot, and be warned – again – that this is NSFW, aka Not Suitable For Work…
[Photo of Ekaterina Galkina is COPYRIGHT by WCF/Urs Raeber – click to view larger]
The Curling News
Online or in person, you need to be in Brantford
by Kimberly Tuck
STRATHROY, Ontario – As I rush around at home doing laundry and packing up the family for the weekend, hubby Wayne and co-founder Jay Allen are having a final meeting with their committee regarding the 2011 Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford, Ontario. No doubt they are hammering out some last-minute details in preparation for this year’s event, which is set to begin play tonight.
This event started four years ago as another last-minute effort; in this case to keep a dying cashspiel in Brantford alive. Now, the World Curling Tour event has grown to become the biggest event on the Ontario curling circuit and arguably the biggest event in Canada! Spectators are in for an amazing treat, and online fans won’t have to search hard to find where some of the game’s biggest stars are competing this weekend – they are all in Brantford!
The impressive list includes two-time defending men’s champ Mike McEwen, Olympic men’s champion Kevin Martin, Olympic women’s silver medallist and curling sweetheart Cheryl Bernard, Ontario favourite Glenn Howard, reigning Canadian women’s champ Amber Holland, European greats Eve Muirhead of Scotland and Niklas Edin of Sweden, and the beat goes on… Jones, Overton-Clapham, Smith-Dacey, Middaugh, Nedohin, McCarville, Scott, Lawton, Kleibrink and more on the women’s side, and Koe, Jacobs, Gushue, Epping, Stjerne, Moskowy and more in men’s play.
No less than 64 teams in total competing at three area curling facilities… yes, this field would rival that of any Olympic Trials or Grand Slam!
The Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic has become a must-attend event for these high-profile teams due to the hospitality, good ice conditions and hard work of the organizing committee. Let’s not forget about the amazing support from the event’s title sponsor, Sun Life Financial, and the group of subsidiary sponsors: without them this event would not be possible, and I hope that each sponsor can appreciate the true enormity of this event and what it brings to the local curling community.
So hats off to all involved, and on behalf of all the participants – thank you, life truly is better under the sun! (Love that tagline, you’re welcome Jay!)
Yes, I am a competitor – I play second for Team Ali Nimik – so that’s how I fit into all this, and how I got this blogging job. Of course, as already mentioned, I happen to be sleeping with one of the co-convenors (is that how rumours get started?) so I am also hoping to report in between games and carousing with some unique behind-the-scenes stuff for you good fans of The Curling News.
So if you are in the area, and even if you’re not, I suggest you get your butt out to one of the host clubs – Brantford Golf & Country Club, Brant Curling Club or Paris Curling Club – and buy a ticket (proceeds go back into each club’s junior programs and also to the Brant Community Health Care Systems Foundation) and catch a few games of this world-class World Curling Tour stop. And if you can’t make it out, do follow along with live scoring on the event website as well as my updates on this blog.
The Curling News
by Jill Officer
Chris Svae – troublemaker!
REGINA – We’re back to red and white here at the worlds today after a very successful Green (Tues)Day. Pretty much everyone and everything here was green except the beer in the Patch! I thought that would have been the icing on the cake if they’d have done that.
Guess what? Turns out that the charismatic and good-looking skip of Team Norway, Thomas Ulsrud, would like to have dinner with my skipper, Jennifer Jones. In the “Getting To Know You” questions of the daily paper, the Eye Opener, he listed Jennifer as one of the three people, living or dead, that he would invite to a dinner party. He also said, however, that if he could be a star in any other sport, his choice would be… ballet! Ballet?! Seriously?!
I found out later that Norwegian second Christoffer Svae was the one that actually filled out the Q & A for him. Maybe it’s Svae that wants to have dinner with Jennifer? Ulsurd did say, of course, that “it wouldn’t be a bad thing” if he could invite her to a dinner party.
When Pat writes, you’d better read!
Denmark continues to struggle. Tommy Stjerne said after the game that his team has had a hard time adjusting to the ice. The conditions here are very different from what they play on at home. He says there is so much more curl and the speed is much faster.
Stjerne says this is his last world championship. After he beat his son Rasmus in the Danish championship final, he said he would never do that again. The young Stjerne really is a bright spot for curling – he beat Canada’s Brett Gallant to win the 2009 world junior title, and he lost the recent European championship final to Ulsrud.
USA skip Pete Fenson and some attractive reporter
Random Thought 1 of 2: I’m waiting for Canada third Jon Mead to take out his skip – or one of their opponents – with his rubber gripper. Jon always tosses his gripper about 20 feet in the air in an attempt to get it behind the boards before he throws his stones. So far he’s been on target with both his gripper and his rocks. So far.
Canada is still very loose – laughing with each other, chatting with the crowd and even raising their arms when the wave in the arena comes around. Jeff Stoughton was asked after Team Canada’s afternoon win over Sweden if he was worried about Jon’s play earlier in the week. The skip said, “I was never worried, but Jonny’s back.”
Ramdom Thought 2 of 2: The editor sent along some curling tweets that he deemed to be “random and weird” and, well, I somewhat agree. Here’s a couple:
From @bulechka: can someone please buy a pair of black socks for Jeff Stoughton?
From @data_wonk: Is there anything stranger than Russ Howard smiling at the camera during TSN’s curling intro?
From @ottguy: Just want to point out the last time I saw John Baird he told me he had never tried curling. How unCanadian.
Another reason I’m in Regina this week is to do some on-camera work for Global Television. Pat Simmons, the five-time Saskatchewan representative at the Brier, and myself have been providing analysis of the games during the station’s live sportscasts. I have also been doing some fun little pieces on the event.
You can see Pat’s blog Simmons Says and you can watch some of my stuff at (hee-hee) Officer’s Patrol! Let me know how you think we’re doing!
Anil Mungal photos copyright The Curling News®
The Curling News
Olympic and world champions confirmed for second annual SickKids Foundation fundraiser
Only 20 spots remain – so act fast
Toronto, ON – No less than 30 of the world’s top curling athletes are confirmed to participate in the second annual Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel, a unique curling tournament which offers single-entry participants the chance to curl for fun with Olympic and world champion competitors.
Just 20 spaces are left for the event, which runs June 3 and 4 at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.
2010 Olympic curling champion John Morris (Edmonton, Alta.) and 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador) will be there, along with Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, the world’s only four-time world junior champion, and Cissi Ostlund and Sara Carlsson, the reigning world women’s champions from Sweden’s Team Anette Norberg.
The reigning Ontario champion skips will also participate. Veteran Glenn Howard of Coldwater is a three-time world champion while recent GP Car and Home Players’ Champion finalist Rachel Homan of Ottawa has turned the curling world upside down at the age of 21.
A special, anonymous celebrity skip will also be appearing to captain the Capital One team.
Last year’s inaugural event raised over ,000 for SickKids Foundation, the fundraising arm of Toronto’s world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children.
“Raising funds for the SickKids Foundation is a natural fit for Capital One as we strive to help Canadian children succeed in life,” said Ian Cunningham, Chief Marketing Officer, Capital One Canada. “Curling fans continue to be fantastic supporters of charitable causes and we are proud to help them raise monies for the SickKids Foundation, while also providing a great weekend of curling fun.”
Other celebrity curling imports include Winnipeg superstars Jennifer Jones, Mike McEwen and world champion Reid Carruthers from Team Jeff Stoughton.
“We have also confirmed Kim Schneider from Amber Holland’s Saskatchewan team,” said event co-chair Jeff Steski. “That means we have at least one player from every playoff team at this past year’s Brier and Scotties (Canadian) championships.”
The weekend kicks off with a junior curling clinic on June 3, hosted by the Capital One Rocks and Rings school educational program. The celebrity competitors will then meet their “new” teammates at an evening mixer.
Saturday, June 4 features the Celebrity Bonspiel, consisting of three four-end curling games, followed by the event finals and the closing gala dinner.
Registration for the 2011 Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel is conducted entirely online via celebritybonspiel.com
Fundraising and sponsorship inquiries are welcome by sending an email to: sickkidsbonspiel@rogers.com
Click on the graphic to increase size
The Curling News
In meetings leading up to the Curl BC Annual General Meeting on June 11, the Performance Committee has voted to adopt a 5 inter-regional playdown structure leading up to a 16 team triple-knockout provincial championship for men and women. The new format, which will be in place for the 2011-2012 season, was heavily influenced by the input from Dave Merklinger.
The 5 British Columbia inter-regional playdowns will be divided up as follows:
- Kootenay – (Region 1 and 2)
- Thompson/Okanagan – (Region 3, 4 and 7)
- Mainland – (Region 11)
- Island – (Region 8, 9 and 10)
- North – (Region 5 and 6)
Each of the 5 inter-regions will have a playdown to qualify 2 teams for the provincial championship. Following all 5 inter-regionals, an open qualifier will take place qualifying 4 teams for the provincial championship. The remaining two berths will go to the previous year’s provincial champion and the team with the most Canadian Team Ranking System points.
In order for an inter-regional to have 2 qualifying berths, it must have 8 or more teams registered for playdowns. If an inter-regional has 4 to 7 teams, it will receive one spot. If there are 3 or fewer teams registered, those teams must travel to the next closest inter-regional to participate.
If one or more inter-regionals has to forfeit a qualifying spot, those qualifying berths will be moved at the official’s discretion as follows:
- If one region has a substantially larger number of teams entering playdowns than any other, it will receive the extra berth. Example: if an inter-regional has 20 teams and the next closest has 12, they would likely receive the extra berth.
- If one inter-regional does not have a substantially larger number of teams entering playdowns, the extra berth will be awarded to the open qualifier. Example: if an inter-regional has 16 teams and another has 15, the berth(s) will likely go to the open qualifier.
The decision where to move the extra berth will be on a year-to-year basis depending upon entries. The officials will make the decision based upon their judgment and not upon a black-and-white rule.
The open qualifier will rotate each year between the Thompson/Okanagan region and the Mainland region. This decision was made based upon each of these regions being more geographically central for the highest number of teams traditionally registered for playdowns.
The provincial championship will be a 16 team triple knockout with a Page Playoff format. The “A” and “B” event qualifiers will play in the Page 1 vs. 2 game with the winner advancing to the championship game. The loser will play the winner of the playoff between the two “C” event qualifiers with the winner of that game advancing to the championship game.
Every game at the provincial championship will now be important. In a round-robin format, teams can still be playing games when they are already mathematically eliminated. With the new format, each and every game will mean something with the possibility of a team advancing or even being eliminated. In addition to this, the new provincial championship format will reduce the number of games from a minimum of 49 (depending upon tie-breakers) to 45 and eliminate the possibility of tie-breakers. This will also reduce the overall length of the provincial championship by a day or possibly two.
Playdowns.com – Curling news and playdown results
Pregnancy sidelines hard-throwing Jill Officer
Quebec's Joelle Sabourin
First, Winnipeg got the Jets. Now, the world’s best women’s curling team – based in the Peg, of course – gets a bit of joie de vivre this fall.
Winnipeg curling star Jill Officer started the ball rolling with an online reveal – her first pregnancy!
Officer then told The Curling News that Quebec curling veteran Joelle Sabourin (left) will replace her on the powerhouse Jennifer Jones foursome this fall and winter, in tandem with regular Jones alternate Jennifer Clarke-Rouire.
Officer’s due date is December 2 – right in the middle of the all-important Canada Cup in Cranbrook, BC – and with the curling season starting up well past the midway part of her pregnancy, it was decided that she will sit out the first half of the season entirely.
Officer plans to “stay loose” throughout the fall and is hoping to rejoin the team in time for the Manitoba women’s provincial scheduled for Portage La Prairie, January 25-29. Should they qualify, it will be Jones’ first provincial appearance since 2008.
Jill Officer (left) with Team Jones last February
After running through a draft list of substitute options, Sabourin was chosen by Team Jones as Officer’s replacement due to a couple of factors: her previous intention of not competing in 2011-2012 – so much for that! – and her friendship with Jones lead Dawn Askin.
Askin, an Ottawa native, was a teammate with Sabourin in 2005. The Quebecer was the alternate for Ontario’s Jenn Hanna – with Askin at lead – when Jones made that legendary in-off double-takeout to win the Canadian women’s championship final in stunning fashion.
Sabourin has competed in five Canadian women’s championships since 1997, including 2008 and 2009 with skip Marie-France Larouche. Sabourin confirmed that she will play in the major World Curling Tour events – plus the Canada Cup – while Clarke-Rouire will fill Officer’s shoes at the smaller tour stops and also in the early rounds of Manitoba women’s playdowns.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity and an honour to play with these guys,” said Sabourin.
“When Dawn called me… I had recently made my decision not to play next year and I was okay with it, but then she called soon afterward and asked me and I said ‘You’re kidding me, right?’
“I’m gonna work hard on my side – I’m not Jill, but I can throw hard and I’ll be practicing my peels for sure. I was biking because I have a race coming up… but now I’ve added kickboxing, four days a week, also to get ready.”
Joelle Sabourin photo by Sébastien Lavallée
Team Jones photo by Andrew Klaver / Kruger Products Ltd.
The Curling News
Middaugh to replace the man who played for just two skips in a 21-year career
Richard Hart embraces Criag Savill at the 2011 Brier
by George Karrys
TORONTO – Richard Hart has retired from high-performance curling by announcing his departure from Team Glenn Howard, one of the most successful high-performance foursomes to ever play The Roaring Game.
The 2007 world champion and 1998 Olympic silver medallist had already taken a partial step back from the sport this past season, dropping his commitment to Team Howard’s World Curling Tour schedule by three tournaments. While not necessarily unexpected to some, his decision will nevertheless send shock waves throughout the sport.
Consistently ranked in the top three teams in the world – or pretty much the the top two alongside Alberta’s Kevin Martin – Team Howard has been a veritable curling machine for the past seven years. Heavily backed by sponsorship dollars and virtually unparalleled in their consistency of winning, the foursome are all charter members of the National Team program; they own and operate a profitable Fantasy Curling Camp; and they even have a professional video documentary set for release late in 2011 or early in 2012.
Yet Hart has chosen to walk away.
Team Howard does "Movember" to fight cancer in 2008
The 42-year-old lefthander informed longtime teammates Howard, Brent Laing and Craig Savill of his decision on Wednesday. He spoke exclusively with The Curling News late Thursday morning.
“Man, has this been a tough decision,” said Hart. “This is something (wife) Margaret and I have been thinking about and talking about for the last four or five months. I mean, I don’t think a day’s gone by when we haven’t discussed it. We tried to figure it out, tried to figure out a way that we could somehow continue on, but we just couldn’t come up with it.
“I am permanently retired from high-performance curling,” Hart continued.
“With the way the game’s changed over the last 10 years, to compete at that level you have to be willing to make that time commitment… and I just couldn’t. If you want to be the best… it’s not just a matter of signing up for a bonspiel and throwing a few rocks anymore.”
“I’m definitely looking forward to taking a full season off.”
Gosh, those guys were colourful!
Inevitably, Hart’s decision centered around his career. As a project manager and vice president of his family-owned electrical engineering firm based in Pickering, Ontario, increased work responsibilities had become a factor. With a senior partner in the firm set to retire this year, the pressure had climbed a notch.
Just a few short weeks ago, Team Kevin Koe lost third Blake MacDonald to his busy work schedule plus family commitments. MacDonald, who has been replaced by Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons, actually planned to quit the highest levels of the sport a year ago, but postponed his decision by a year after Team Koe won the 2010 Brier and world championship.
“I’ve been going through it in my mind for so long now, and it’s just that there was nothing else I could do,” said Hart. “My two options were to basically turn pro as a curler, and leave my work as I know it right now, or the other way… to leave curling and start focussing more on work.
“We talked a little bit on the weekend (at the Players’ Championship in Grande Prairie), but not too much,” Hart revealed. “I basically left it that I would call the guys next week, as there were a couple more things I wanted to look into. But I called them all yesterday, and told them I couldn’t continue.
“It’s emotional for me, for sure. It’s really hard. One of the things that I considered in this decision – and it’s nothing you can really control – but one of the toughest things that I’m afraid of giving up is my friendship with the guys, because you just don’t know how it’s going to all play out.
“When it’s all said and done, Team Howard’s record in terms of win-losses is right there for everybody to see, but that’s not really how I evaluate our team. It was so much more than that for me, and for the guys as well. It was about four great friends who played the game the way we wanted to play it.
“That’s what I’m going to miss. We’ll still be friends obviously, but now for half the year they’re going to be unavailable, they’ll be busy competing, and I now won’t be. So I look forward to spending some time with them this summer, and playing some golf, but at the end of the day I spent half my year… probably spending as much time with those guys as I did with my family. And it will never be the same, just because of that.”
Hart has definitely left the door open to play the game he loves in the future – just not at the elite level.
Hart with the 1998 Mike Harris Olympic team (Edmonton 09)
“The stuff I love about curling is still there, so if I were to get back into it I would be looking into playing in local bonspiels with good friends,” said Hart. “After I told Glenn (my decision) I mentioned that when he’s finished with this next Olympic run, if he wants to get together play for some fun I’d be up for that.
“I find it hard to believe I won’t be throwing rocks at all, even once in a while by myself, after practicing almost every day for 20 years.”
Hart, who plans to spend more time with his bantam-aged sons and their budding curling careers, also believes his ex-teammates will soldier on.
“They’re disappointed for sure, but they totally understand where I’m coming from,” said Hart. “And Team Howard’s success will continue, with whoever they decide to pick up and replace me with. There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re going to continue on and do great things.”
The early frontrunner for Hart’s spot was always going to be ex-Howard teammate Wayne Middaugh, who replaced Hart three times on the WCT this season. Middaugh shone in one particular event, the Canada Cup, in which the modified Team Howard won the title with a classic victory over Martin (remember Hart ♥ Middaugh?)
Indeed, as word began to spread around the curling world, Middaugh confirmed that he had signed up to replace Hart on Team Howard.
Hart’s legacy may well be unmatched as the ultimate third; a man who never chose to move up and skip a team himself.
“It’s been seven years with this team, 11 years with Glenn overall and 10 years with Mike (Harris),” said Hart. “21 years of curling and I’ve played for just two skips. I’m pretty proud of that, and of all that those teams accomplished.”
Anil Mungal photos copyright Capital One and/or The Curling News • Olympic Team 1998 photo by Michael Burns – click images to increase size
The Curling News
