All-star curler shocked by her dismissal
Team Homan’s decision to part ways with Lisa Weagle dramatically changed the look of one of the country’s top rinks and put the all-star lead at the top of curling’s free agent list.
Weagle was shocked to receive word the team wanted to replace her. She said she was informed when skip Rachel Homan and vice-skip Emma Miskew called her on Thursday afternoon.
A team statement was issued shortly thereafter.
“I wasn’t part of the discussions and it was a decision that was taken by the team,” Weagle said Friday in Ottawa.
The development was a stunner given that Weagle has had another strong season and is considered one of the best leads in the world.
Over her 11-year run with the Ottawabased side, the team won three Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles, one world championship and represented Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The team statement said the change came with “mixed emotions,” adding the players value their friendship with Weagle and wished her the best. Homan, in an email late Friday, expanded on the decision.
“Lisa is one of the best leads in the game and we wouldn’t have had the success we achieved over the last few years without her,” Homan said. “The game is constantly changing and we need to change with it by restructuring if we want to keep up with the best teams in the world. Personnel changes play an important role in high performance for teams to be able to grow and thrive.
“If you’re always standing still you are getting passed. Giving the comparison to other high-performance sports, trading elite talented athletes is commonplace and curling is no different.”
There was no immediate word on Weagle’s replacement.
The team announcement, somewhat buried in the sports news cycle given the seismic developments on the coronavirus pandemic front, came on the same day the women’s world championship in
Prince George was cancelled.
The rest of this season’s schedule on the World Curling Tour is in doubt. The remaining Grand Slam events were cancelled on Friday.
Teams and players aren’t wasting time making moves as they look to the second half of the quadrennial.
Team Robyn Silvernagle will have a new-look foursome with only the skip and second Jessie Hunkin returning. And Team Chelsea Carey announced Friday that vice-skip Sarah Wilkes would be departing.
“It happens, it’s curling,” Carey said from Calgary. “I don’t know that we necessarily saw it coming, but I don’t think you can be that surprised about anything to be honest. It’s just one of those times in the sport where that kind of stuff does happen.”
Team Homan won its first Scotties title in 2013, added national crowns in ’14 and ’17 and won the Olympic Trials.
“I think all of these accomplishments are really the result of being on a team with great teammates,” Weagle said. “So I’m very proud of what we built together. We’ve come a long way and grown so much. I’m very grateful to them for having me as part of the team. I was able to achieve way beyond whatever I thought was possible.”
The team did not reach the podium at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Homan returned to the Scotties final last year but lost to Carey in an extra end.