The Granite Club in Winnipeg is known as the Mother Club, so it seems appropriate that there are a number of them competing inside at the 2025 Canadian Curling Club Championships this week.
Their presence at the event is a great testament to women who are not only ‘mum’ to their kids, big and small, but also people with life goals in sports outside motherhood. And this week, the goal is to be part of the best club team in the country.
The curlers at the event are not of curling’s upper crust. The competition is aimed at grassroots players who want the opportunity to compete for a national championship but don’t have time or resources to commit to a high-performance pathway.
That is ideal for Frances Taylor, a mother of three who is playing lead for Team Yukon’s Darlene Gammel.
Playing in this event is as big for her as it is to her kids, aged 42, 38, and 36.
“The kids are delighted that I am here,” said Taylor, who is playing in her second Canadian Club Championship, both in Winnipeg. She also appeared at the 2023 event at the Assiniboine-Memorial with two teammates on the present team — skip Gammel and second Tamar Vandenberghe. Third/vice-skip Claudia Beer is new to the team.
Turns out everybody back home in Whitehorse is happy for Taylor and crew.
“The ladies at home are excited about our ladies team,” she said. “They send notes, they text.”
The moms here this week have taken different paths to reach this point. Some new moms haven’t missed a beat, using dad, family or a baby-sitter to keep their competitive juices flowing.
A few others, well beyond diapers and midnight feedings, got involved in the game later in life.
Taylor did the latter.
“I started curling while I was very young, and when we got married and had kids, I stepped back from curling,” she said. “I put my gear away and stopped and took a break when the kids were very young.”
She didn’t get back into the competitive scene until she was in her 30s and the kids were older.
Like other competitors, she had dreams of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“You try out for it and think maybe you have an opportunity,” she said, “but by that time your kids are in their teen years.”
So the years go by, the kids grow older, two grandkids come along, but guess what? Taylor is in another Canadian championship and that’s everything to her.
“I am thrilled,” she beams. “This is our Scotties, especially when you’re coming out of the clubs. Yes, we’re a grassroots team but it gives you the opportunity to represent your province or territory.”
Taylor’s expectations were modest coming in.
“To do the best that I can,” she said. “Try to have close games and maybe win one or two, but have a good time and enjoy it. Learn off everybody, right?
That first win has yet to come as the Polars slipped to 0-4 in the women’s Pool B after losing 7-4 Thursday afternoon to skip Patricia Bibby’s Team Saskatchewan (3-0; Prince Albert). Team Yukon hung in there until the end but a steal of two in the seventh end dashed its hopes.
The win moved Team Saskatchewan into sole possession of first place in the pool. Team British Columbia’s Kesa Woodward (3-1; Duncan) follows close behind after posting a 9-2 win over skip Geneva Chislett’s Team Nunavut (1-3; Iqaluit). In the other Pool B game, Team Northern Ontario’s Mackenzie Daley (2-1; North Bay) defeated Prince Edward Island’s Melissa Morrow (1-2; Crapaud) 6-2.
In Pool A, Team Ontario’s Lindsay Thorne (3-0; Ottawa) moved to the head of the class after a 7-0 win over Newfoundland & Labrador’s Marcie Brown (2-2; Labrador City); New Brunswick’s Sarah Gaines (2-2; Oromocto) evened its record with a 9-8 win over Nova Scotia’s Jennifer Cannell (2-2; Berwick); and host Team Manitoba’s Lindsay Warkentin (1-2; Winnipeg) hit the win column, defeating Team Northwest Territories Carina McKay-Saturnino (0-3; Inuvik) 11-1.
The men’s late afternoon draw features a key game in the Pool A division as leader Team Prince Edward Island’s Dennis Watts (4-0; Cornwall) will square off against Mitch Young’s Team British Columbia (3-1; Cranbrook) at 4:30 p.m. (all times Central)
The Pool B leaders also hit the ice in the afternoon but not against each other. Team Alberta’s Sterling Hansen (3-0; Calgary) was up against skip Dustin Mikkelsen’s Team Yukon (2-1; Whitehorse), while Team Ontario’s Bryan Cochrane (3-0; Russell) squared off against Dean Grinheim’s Team Saskatchewan (1-2; Saskatoon).
Cochrane won his morning draw while Hansen had the bye.
The men and women fields are divided into two pools of seven teams. After the round robin, the top four teams from each pool will play in a double knockout that will qualify four teams to the medal round on the weekend.
Both gold-medal games will be played Sunday at 3 p.m.
Qualifiers will be ranked to determine placement.
For event live scores, draw schedule, roster information and live streaming, CLICK HERE.
