Ackerman, Sturmay rolling at Tournament of Hearts

Ackerman, Sturmay rolling at Tournament of Hearts

CALGARY — Thirty-four years have passed since the last time an all-rookie team won the Canadian women’s curling championship.

So 22-year-old Skylar Ackerman and her unbeaten team of Saskatchewan first-timers might be due.

In front of plenty of boisterous green-clad friends, families and supporters at Calgary’s WinSport Event Centre on Sunday afternoon, the young team from Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club improved to 3-0 with a 6-5 victory over Ontario’s Krista McCarville (1-2).

Tied with Ackerman on top of the nine-team Pool A is another mostly-rookie crew in Alberta skipped by 25-year-old Selena Sturmay, who won 8-6 over the previously unbeaten and four-time champion Kerri Einarson (2-1) of Manitoba.

On Sturmay’s team from Edmonton’s Saville Community Sports Centre, only second Dezaray Hawes boasts previous Scotties experience having curled the last seven years with British Columbia’s Corryn Brown. That included appearances in the 2020 and 2021 national championship.

Brown was also victorious on Sunday with British Columbia (2-1) prevailing 9-5 over Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo (0-3). The other matinee saw Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges (1-1) win 8-7 over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Stacie Curtis (0-2).

In the morning draw, Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones (2-0) chalked up a 14-4 victory over Yukon’s Bayly Scoffin, British Columbia’s Clancy Grandy (2-0) won 10-5 over Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories (0-2), Rachel Homan (2-0) bested Danielle Inglis (0-2) 11-4 in an all-Ontario showdown, and Nova Scotia’s Heather Smith (1-1) beat New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams 10-8 (0-2).

In addition to trying to become the first all-rookie team to win the Scotties since Ontario’s Alison Goring in 1990, the last time Saskatchewan won was 2011 with Amber Holland at skip, who that year knocked off Jennifer Jones in the final.

Now 49, Holland is back as Ackerman’s alternate, bringing a vast resume of experience that the others might lack.

“I’ve done this fifth gig quite a few times at the Scotties,” said Holland, who has been Saskatchewan’s alternate three of the past four years.

“I don’t ever have an expectation to play. Especially with these girls, they’ve worked their butt off to get here and they deserve to be out there playing every game. So then my role, does it become more of a manager? Does it become more of a coach? That’s a lot of the preplanning I do with the team on what my role is and where they feel comfortable having me.”

Ackerman says having Holland sitting at the end of the rink alongside her father, Patrick, the team’s coach, has given them a great resource.

“Amber has helped us a ton and helped us calm the nerves a little bit,” said Ackerman. “We worked with her a lot about planning and how we wanted to manage our schedule, and on ice and in team debriefs after games, she’s helping share her skipping experience at this level so that we can keep learning and keep building every game.”

So far, so good, said Holland, who skipped in three Scotties and has been an alternate six times.

“Technically, the skills and abilities of the players, they can do it and we’re seeing that here, and I don’t even think we’ve seen them play their best yet.”

While soaking up the roars of the crowd, the selfies, and the autograph requests, winning doesn’t hurt either.

“It helps us show that we belong here and hopefully we can continue to have some success throughout the week,” said Ackerman. “We’re just really enjoying the moment out here and taking things one shot at a time and just making them one shot at a time and having a blast.”

For Alberta, Sunday’s win over Einarson was a confidence builder.

“The underdog story on us is maybe not as true as people are believing it, so I think we’ve just got to stick to our guns and know that we belong here,” said Sturmay.

The poise of her skip has impressed third Danielle Schmiemann, who is in his first year curling with her.

“Selena is fearless, honestly, and I think they’re learning that about her quickly,” said the 27-year-old Schmiemann. “She’s young and she may not have the Scotties experience, but she is a fantastic leader and she’s got nerves of steel — no fear.”

Alberta and Saskatchewan meet each other on Monday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2024.

Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press