Youngster Homan rocks Manitoba, seizes first Canadian crown
KINGSTON, ONT. — Craig Homan said his daughter has a tattoo on her foot, and it is dedicated to the memory of her late grandfather, Gerald.
He was a long-time curler and an officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force and its old motto became her tattoo: “Through adversity to the stars.”
Rachel Homan started curling when she was only four years old and she had always been close to her grandfather. He had already fallen ill before she qualified to compete at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts two years ago, but he still made the trip. He died of cancer later that year, and Rachel got her tattoo.
Sunday, in her second trip to the Scotties, Homan overcame a series of hurdles — her age, her opponent and the pressure of a home crowd — to claim her first Canadian women’s curling championship. Homan, 23, from Ottawa, earned a 9-6 win against Jennifer Jones and a decorated rink from Manitoba.
With the win, Homan earned the right to represent Canada at the world championships in Riga, Latvia, next month. The win also effectively guarantees her Ottawa Curling Club rink a place in the Canadian Olympic trials later this year in Winnipeg.
“My grandfather would have been so happy right now,” Homan said, eyes welling with tears moments after the final shot. “It’s too bad he can’t be here.”
It began as a heavyweight fight. Homan opened the game with a draw for three, but went three more ends without a point. And then, in the fifth, it threatened to unspool.
Lisa Weagle, the Ontario lead, got her broom caught between two Ontario rocks near the house. One of the yellow rocks actually jumped off the ice, startling the crowd. Homan, facing three Manitoba stones in the house after everything was reset, drew for one.
Homan drew for three more in the seventh end to take a 7-4 lead. The outcome became a certainty when Jones missed on a potential triple-takeout in the eighth end, letting Homan steal two.
“They outplayed us,” said Jones, “and they deserved to win this game.”
“(Rachel’s) funny and she’s fun and she’s a 23-year-old with all the good parts and bad parts of a 23-year-old,” her father said.
“She doesn’t always clean her room. What can you do? She’s just very competitive and she’s put a lot into it, and she’s not going to be distracted from getting to where she wants to go.”