Almost 40 years after playing at the national Canadian mixed curling tournament, NOTL’s Michelle Scott is back at the championships.
The 66-year-old made her return at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club this week, not as a player but as host committee chair for the competition that wraps up Sunday in the Garden City.
Born and raised in curling-crazed rural Alberta, and refining her skills as an adult in Edmonton’s world class pool of urban talent, Scott’s knowledge of the sport at its best made it easy to accept the role of chair.
“The key was I knew what to expect,” said the Chautauqua resident, who played third under legendary skip Randy Ferbey at the 1985 championships in Toronto.
“The planning was really important, but the ability to change on a second’s notice was really, really, really critical.”
“When you come to a major championship event like this there’s a lot of unknowns,” she added, noting an instance last week when a player had to be swapped with another at the last minute.
In the end, Scott credits her host committee teammates for making the planning and pivoting so seamless.
She also credits a small army of volunteers who stepped forward to provide invaluable support.
“What’s really wonderful about our club is when we made the call out to the volunteers, we didn’t have any issues getting the number we needed,” she said.
“We actually had to shut it off at one point because we didn’t know if we had enough jobs for all the people who wanted to volunteer.”
Meanwhile, on the pebbled ice, the 14-team championships featured equally talented people with the country’s best male and female curlers from every province and territory.
Ontario, due to its size and population, regularly fields two teams at championships such as these.
“The quality of the curling is unbelievable because a lot of the players, obviously, have either been here before, played in the provincial championships and been on the national stage,” she said.
Plus, unlike some tournaments held in large hockey rinks, she added, fans of these championships benefit from the cozy confines of an actual curling rink.
“Our ice is in great condition and the fans that have come out have really enjoyed seeing and being right with the players.”
