Day 6 at the Scotties: Alberta's Sturmay in it for the long Olympic haul
'We’re in a really good spot,' says Edmonton skip in second visit to Canadian women's curling championship
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Trust the process, says Selena Sturmay. After all, it’s what the young Alberta skip and her Edmonton crew have been working towards all curling season.
A commitment to the details of the game has been top priority for the Saville Curling Centre squad, now competing in its second straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
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Day 6 at the Scotties: Alberta's Sturmay in it for the long Olympic haul Back to video
“Obviously, last year we had a really good year, especially as a first-year team,” said the 26-year-old Sturmay, from the Scotties hosted at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont. “But after a lot of reflection — after last year’s Scotties in Calgary — we decided that this team is sticking together for a couple of years to come, so we really shaped this year around growth as a team.”
That’s showing wisdom beyond their years — not always a quality found in a team boasting an average age of just 26-plus.
Indeed, it could’ve been just ride the high for Sturmay, third Danielle Schmiemann, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Paige Papley after last year’s success to become provincial champions that continued well into their maiden visit to the Hearts event.
You’ll recall Team Sturmay were the Scotties darlings at Calgary’s WinSport, hyping up the home province with a 7-1 round-robin record and a 7-5 playoff win over Kaitlyn Lawes and her talented Manitoba team.
That was fun, for sure.
And at 4-3 at these Scotties after Wednesday’s early 10-8 win over New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams and an evening 9-8 loss to Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin, it didn’t quite come together like it did a year ago. After Wednesday night’s action, they were eliminated from the playoff hunt.
But it doesn’t have to come together just yet.
Because they are in it for the long haul — that being medal hunt at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
“Looking back, I guess we didn’t necessarily just shape this year around the Scotties or chasing points,” said Sturmay, who did qualify via points — from last season and not this campaign — for these Scotties. “It’s kind of more along a long-term goal of getting to the Olympic trials and doing well there.
“And for us, it’s more of like a two-year plan rather than a lot of these teams that kind of have a one-year plan.”
Indeed, the continuity of Sturmay & Co. gives them an edge. At least it does over many of the nation’s top teams which have altered their lineup — forced or not — in a bid to find the fiercest foursome for this Olympic quadrennial.
“Totally,” agreed Sturmay. “I just feel like there’s been so many team changes this year and even last year that a lot of those teams necessarily haven’t had that time to reflect as a team and make those changes. They’re still kind of in the growing phase — the early growing phases — of their teams.
“But yeah, I think that we’ve done a great job this year of staying together and really focusing on what we want to do better as a team and staying true to those things that we’ve wanted to work on, even though results may not have been there throughout the season.”
Points-wise, they finished 12th in the Canadian Team Ranking System in 2024-25 — a far cry from the fifth-place finish of 2023-24.
But, again, it’s about the future for Team Sturmay …
Although they would’ve certainly taken similar success to last year at the Scotties — and more.
“Yeah … we’re just looking to continue building and growing as a team and just looking how each of us can individually improve and what we can bring forward to the team to improve, as well,” added Sturmay. “So a lot of us have made a lot of technical changes to the way that we’re throwing the rock just to align with each other a little bit more and even just the way that we’re managing the rocks — you know … who’s the inside sweeper and who’s doing most of the judging.
“So I feel like we’re finally at a point in this season where all of those changes have kind of paid off, and we’re seeing and reaping the effects of those changes now.
“We’re in a really good spot.”
EXTRA ENDS
Canada’s Rachel Homan keeps on rollin’ at the Scotties. The defending champ and her Ottawa rink moved to an 18th straight win with a two-win day at the championship Wednesday. They earned a 7-5 early decision over B.C.’s Corryn Brown (5-2) and then a late 9-3 upend of Nunavut’s Julia Weagle (0-7) to improve to 7-0 and clinch first place in Pool A … Late-draw wins by B.C. and Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik (5-2) qualified both for the other two Pool A playoff spots. Brown followed up her loss to Homan with a 9-5 victory over New Brunswick (2-5), while Skrlik downed Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo (1-6) 7-4 … Other early action saw: Nunavut lose 7-4 to Saskatchewan (5-3) on a three-ender earned by the Saskatoon rink in the ninth end; and Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville (3-4) — on 11 points stolen in the fifth, sixth and seventh ends — throttle P.E.I. 15-2 … Afternoon action of Pool B matches was: Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson (4-2) in comeback fashion again over Nova Scotia’s Christina Black (4-2) 9-6; Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes (4-3) continue to turn around the week with an 8-4 result over Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha (2-4); Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges (5-2) with an 8-4 win over Yukon (1-5), who was without skip Bayly Scoffin; and Ontario’s Danielle Inglis (5-1) — with steals in the 10th and extra ends — dropping Manitoba’s Kate Cameron (3-3) … The final day of round-robin play Thursday — all times ET and on TSN — features Draw 16 (9 a.m.), Draw 17 (2 p.m.) and Draw 18 (7 p.m.), with Pool B playoff spots needing to be filled.
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