Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes kicked off the season almost as far away from home as possible with Team Jennifer Jones opening the year across the pond at the Stockholm Ladies Curling Cup in late September.
The reigning Olympic champions finished third at the tournament and Lawes also took in some of the tourist attractions Stockholm has to offer. The ABBA museum saw the team trade their curling brooms for microphones and test out their singing abilities.
“It was fantastic, in our opinion, I don’t know about the other people that were there and how they felt,” Lawes said with a laugh. “We love travelling and taking in some of the different sights and different places, so it was a neat experience.”
Team Jones is now back on Canadian soil and Lawes, who throws third stones for the rink, is looking forward to playing right in her home province at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters tournament in Selkirk, Man., running Oct. 28 to Nov. 2 at the Selkirk Recreational Complex.
“It’s not very often our family and friends get to come out and cheer us on,” Lawes said. “We’re really excited to have a fantastic event like the Masters in Manitoba and we’re very excited to get on the ice there.”
Lawes reflected on the last time her team played in an arena setting in their home province and how much of an impact it had on them.
“We had our Olympic trials in Winnipeg and that turned out pretty good for us,” Lawes said. “We love being able to look into the crowd and see friends and family and to hear that support from everyone.”
The Olympic trials at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre this past December were the beginning of a dream season for Team Jones as they earned the right to represent Canada at the Sochi Games in February. The rink then made history by becoming the first women’s team to finish the Olympic tournament undefeated en route to capturing the gold medal.
Team Jones closed out the season winning the Grand Slam of Curling’s Players’ Championship in April and then experienced a busy off-season of celebrations including meeting royalty, being honoured at a Winnipeg Blue Bombers game and having a mural painted on the side of their home base, the St. Vital Curling Club.
The summer also saw several curling teams undergo roster shakeups ahead of the new four-year road to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Team Jones decided to stick together though and attempt another Olympic run to defend the gold medal.
Lawes said it was a very easy decision once they made sure everyone was on the same page.
“It’s a big commitment and we just had to make sure we had the support from our families and are able to do what we do,” Lawes said. “Once we had the okay from everyone else it was an easy decision because we love to play together, we have fun and we still feel we can get better.”