Homan curling team finds its Rocque of support
SYDNEY, N.S. — If they had to pick one person who has been the biggest difference maker in what has been a dominant season so far, members of Rachel Homan’s Ontario team can easily come to a consensus.
Their choice would be their recently re-hired coach, Marcel Rocque, a three-time world champion as a player and man who has made a significant mark on international curling through his mentoring work. Rocque, a 47-year-old from Edmonton, doesn’t agree.
“I don’t really know that I’m doing that much for them right now,” Rocque said this weekend at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at Centre 200.
“To be honest they’re such a strong group of players, it’s just keeping them focused and keeping them comfortable and keeping them in the zone where they need to be to perform.”
It’s not like the Homan team was completely off the rails or anything when Rocque was chosen to replace sports psychologist Adam Kingsbury as coach.
But there was that significant blip last February at the Olympics in South Korea, where the Homan team lost its way and became the first Canadian curling team to ever finish off the podium at the Winter Games.
It was obvious something was missing in Pyeongchang and Homan’s team — including third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle — believed Rocque could help restore it.
“Huge difference,” Homan said. “He’s really great at all aspects of the game so it’s great to have him as a curling coach and really push our game to the next level.”
Courtney has a different way of describing Rocque’s impact.
“We know he loves us like we’re his kids, but he’s also very hard on us,” Courtney said.
“He expects the highest level of quality and effort out of us. He’s one of the best in the game when it comes to coaching.”