McCarville rink rockin’ with best of ’em
Northern Ontario team heating up ice
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA. • Members of the Northern Ontario representative at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts are enjoying a successful pilot project.
In its first season together, the team consists of Thunder Bay residents Krista McCarville ( skip), Ashley Sippala (second) and lead Sarah Potts ( lead ), along with Sudbury-based third Kendra Lilly.
“With my team living in Thunder Bay, I’ve spent quite a substantial amount of time in airports,” said Lilly, who resides 1,000 kilometres away from McCarville, Sippala and Potts.
“It’s awesome. I wouldn’t have it any other way. We have so much fun as a team and we clicked right away, so it’s pretty good.”
Especially when you consider the logistical challenges.
“We booked a lot of flights on air miles,” said Lilly, who typically flies to Thunder Bay via Toronto to meet up with her team. “They’re usually not the best flights ( in terms of scheduling), so I usually get in pretty late.
“When I go to Thunder Bay for training weekends, we’re on the ice all day and then we’re up again doing practice games and just trying to get as much practice as we can. They’re pretty exhausting weekends and then, when we go away to bonspiels, they’re pretty exhausting, too.”
Not to mention pretty successful. The McCarville team won all five bonspiels it entered this season before capturing the Northern Ontario title and earning a berth in the Canadian women’s curling championship tournament — the first for Lilly.
“There definitely are the pinch-me moments, because it almost feels surreal,” the 24- year- old Lilly marvelled. “Now that it’s happening, I’m ready to get into the groove of things.”
McCarville is f amiliar with the routine, having skipped at four previous Scotties. She led the Ontario representative in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, earning a bronze medal in the latter year.
Sippala was the second f or McCarville in 2010, when Potts — the 26- yearold daughter of noted curlers Rick and Lorraine Lang — was the alternate for Ontario.
Potts, Lilly and the McCarville team’s current fifth, Oye-Sem Won Briand, curled together last season, during which McCarville and Sippala took a break from the sport.
McCarville could not stay away completely, though, and therefore watched the Ontario women’s championship tournament when it was held in Thunder Bay.
“I just needed to take a couple of years off, but sitting there and watching them in the provincials just killed me,” recalled McCarville, 33. “I had to be out there.
“I thought that, coming back, we needed another player. I thought, ‘ Hey, why not ask Kendra?’ She’s a good shooter and I could see that she has a lot of fire and dedication to the game and she loves it. We asked her and it seemed to work out pretty well.”
So did the hiatus, as it turned out, because McCarville was able to recharge.
“I just felt like I didn’t have the passion,’’ she said. “It was dwindling, and I just felt like I needed a little break. I felt tired and I had two little young children and I was back to full- time teaching. I just felt that if the passion’s not there, why am I putting so much time and effort into it?
“You need the passion and I think that’s really important. Coming back this year, I definitely know that it’s back.”
• Team Canada got back on the winning track Sunday morning, defeating Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt 9-4 at Revolution Place.
The Jennifer Jones-skipped Canada squad rebounded from Saturday’s 12- 5, opening- draw loss to Alberta’s Chelsea Carey.
“We’ve been really fortunate to be in lots of events,’’ Team Canada lead Dawn McEwen said. “This is the type of pressure and experience that goes on. We definitely have perspective and know that it’s just the first game and there’s lots of building to do.
“We weren’t worried at all. It’s a long week.”
Jones, McEwen, third Kaitlyn Lawes and second Jill Officer understand the nature of the week, and of the games therein, due to their vast experience in the sport.
“We had one bad end ( against Alberta) and, other than that, we thought it was a pretty well- played game on our part,” said McEwen, whose team is based in Winnipeg.
“It was the first game. You’re getting a feel for the ice. We just want to get comfortable with every game. It’s great getting a win (Sunday morning). It’s a really long week, so we’ll just take it one game at a time.”