Team Saskatchewan ready to contend at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Article content

A berth in the national women’s curling championship — the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — was never a guarantee for Nancy Martin.

Article content

Article content

In fact, getting to the Saskatchewan women’s provincial curling championship was tough enough.

After finishing as the runner-up at the provincial championships in 2023 and 2024, Martin formed a new team this year with the hopes of allowing her to focus on mixed doubles while also staying in contention for the provincial tournament.

Article content

In what she called a “mixed doubles-focused team,” Martin reunited with former teammates Chaelynn Stewart and Deanna Doig while adding Manitoba’s Kadriana Lott. Colleen Ackerman was brought on as the alternate.

The goal was to allow the team members to play in mixed doubles events leading up to the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials, while also trying to earn a spot in Saskatchewan’s women’s curling championship, the Viterra Prairie Pinnacle.

With plenty of mixed doubles and women’s events overlapping throughout the year, it led to the team fielding various lineups in the spiels they entered.

In fact, the full team only curled once as a group together — the MCT Showdown in Stonewall, Man. near Lott’s hometown in late November — before heading to the provincial championship.

“We went there and we weren’t really sure if this team was actually what we’re hoping it would be,” said Martin. “And we played that weekend, and we’re like, ‘Yeah, it sure is. Let’s hope we get in (to provincials) now.’ ”

Throughout the season, positions in the lineup often changed, alternates including Skylar Ackerman and Jill Shumay were used and the team even competed in some events as a threesome.

Article content

Article content

Despite the lineup changes, the squad put together a good season but they were still on the bubble to qualify for provincials.

Heading into the final Sask. Curling Tour event of the season in Swift Current, Team Martin was in line to earn a provincial berth but needed some help from other teams to hold onto their spot in the rankings.

If they couldn’t hold on to their ranking, it would mean they’d have to head to the last-chance qualifier in January.

“We were watching the Swift Current event and having to cheer for teams to lose to make sure that we got our spot,” said Martin. “Because neither Kadriana nor I could go to the last-chance event.

“Deanna and Chaelynn would have had to take a spare, because we could only take one different player. So, they would have had to go, the two of them with one spare, to the last-chance to try to get us in. But the right teams lost, and we got in by a point and didn’t have to go.”

With a trip to the provincials secured, Martin and Lott headed to the Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials, which were held Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 — overlapping with the last-chance event.

Article content

After falling short at the mixed doubles trials, Martin, who partnered with Steve Laycock, and Lott, who partnered with husband Colton Lott, soon turned their focus to the women’s provincial run, which was their second event as a full team.

And in the end, Team Martin was able to beat Team Jolene Campbell in the championship game to book their trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Saskatchewan from Feb. 14-23 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

“We both were disappointed with our finishes at the mixed doubles Olympic trials, but here we are going to the Scotties chasing a different dream,” said Martin.

Achieving that dream also came with some adversity. During provincials, Doig was dealing with an injury so Ackerman stepped in to replace her.

But having played with various lineups throughout the season, the switch felt natural.

“We’ve had all the combos,” said Martin. “So honestly, I think it kind of prepped us for that moment when Deanna had to step out and we had to bring someone else in. It didn’t seem to faze the girls and Colleen was such an easy fit that it seemed seamless.”

Article content

Martin, Stewart, Lott, Doig and Ackerman are now set to wear the green jacket at the Scotties, alongside coach Sherry Anderson, who the team has brought on for the national championship.

For Doig, it will be her second time at the Scotties after playing alongside Penny Barker in 2017 while Lott, a 2024 Canadian mixed doubles champion, will be making her Scotties debut.

It will also be Ackerman’s Scotties debut.

“It’s pretty amazing,” said Martin. “(Colleen) kind of had said she felt like she wasn’t ever going to get to go to the Scotties, and had consoled herself with that fact, and just was chasing her dreams through mixed and so for her, it’s pretty exciting.”

As for Martin and Stewart, they will be making their second trip to the Scotties after curling alongside skip Sherry Anderson in Calgary in 2021, when the team was selected to represent Saskatchewan after the provincial playdowns were cancelled due to the pandemic.

“Winning it to go is a very different feeling,” said Martin, who also represented Saskatchewan at the Canadian Senior Curling Championships in 2022 with Doig. “We went the year of the bubble, and it was a bit strange and we had no fans, so the idea of being able to have friends and family in the in the stands and playing for a crowd … it’s a dream come true.

Article content

“I’ve been battling it out for a long time and it’s a dream come true for me and for the girls.”

Team Saskatchewan schedule

• Friday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. vs. Northern Ontario (McCarville)
• Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. vs. P.E.I. (DiCarlo)
• Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. vs. B.C. (Brown)
• Monday, Feb. 17 at 8 a.m. vs. New Brunswick (Adams)
• Monday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. vs. Canada (Homan)
• Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. vs. Alberta (Skrlik)
• Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 8 a.m. vs. Nunavut (Weagle)
• Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. vs. Alberta (Sturmay)
• Friday, Feb. 21 — Playoff qualifiers
• Saturday, Feb. 22 — Page playoffs
• Sunday, Feb. 23 — Semifinal and final

[email protected]

The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Article content