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Hi All, Jolene Campbell happily reporting to you as Team Sask 5th Player here at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sault Ste. Marie! I am so happy to be sharing this blog with you on behalf of Team Sask so you can take part in our journey over the next 11 days.
We got an early start to Thursday – at airport at 5:30 am. We got out of Regina with no trouble but ran into a bit of a delay in TO. This turned out to be not so bad as Air Canada provided complimentary beverages on the flight to the Soo. When they announced this good news during the flight everyone on the team seemed to be asleep, so as any respectable Team Sask 5th Player would do, I woke the team up and told them that the first round was on me! : ) The tiny plane didn’t exactly breeze through the turbulence, but we made it safe and sound with all of our luggage which is more than we can say for a few of the teams.
We met our wonderful driver, Elaine, at the airport and we were off to the hotel. Little aside here - I have been travelling with this team quite a bit this year and I have always roomed with Kim and Heather, while Tammy and Amber stay in the other room. For the Scotties we found out that we would get 4 rooms for the team – so I would get my very own room! At first this sounded wonderful, but then I thought about our Rock Band Marathons, late night chats and Heather’s soothing grunting noise she makes while she sleeps, and I began to think I might be lonely in a room all by myself. So what could be more exciting than walking into our rooms today to find that my room has an adjoining door to Kim and Heather’s!!! Ha … Classic! Once at the hotel we tried on all of our Sask gear and just as I suspected, this team looks great in Green. Next Elaine took us out to the Curling Club here to throw some rocks; then to the Essar Centre for a quick tour and finally, back to the hotel for supper. The long day started to take its toll as Heather spilled her fancy drink all over herself … still day 1 and already I was seeing a laundry trip in the near future : )
Friday started with a bit of a sleep in before we headed to the arena for practice. It was nice to finally be out there and the ice was great! After the team meeting the girls participated in the Ford Hot Shots competition and my duties as fifth player truly began to take form. I went to seek out the spouses in the stands to deliver their tickets only to find that the bar was open and they were more than happy to purchase a bevy for Super 5th! Following this I had to explain to Jared (Heather’s hubby) what the Hot Shots was all about, to which he replied, “Well this shouldn’t take long” and I had to then explain it would take at least 2 or 3 Ryes! The girls all scored well in the first round with Tammy and Amber moving on to the final 8 tomorrow afternoon. Of course Tammy immediately called dibs on Heather and Kim for sweepers, so Amber gets me – my #1 goal is to not burn her rocks – and I think maybe Shelly Nichols, cause Amber thinks us skips need to stick together! haha
The day concluded at the opening banquet where we were joined by our families and we met some more wonderful people from the Soo. After an amazing 10-course meal (ok, it was actually 5), the girls were awarded with their Scotties Jewelry! Now it is off to bed as we get ready for a big day tomorrow. Hot Shots Finals, Opening Ceremonies and our first game vs. Team PEI. The girls looked great today and are definitely ready to get this show on the road. We are so thrilled to be here representing Saskatchewan! So far it appears as though Sault Ste. Marie is going to put on a wonderful event and we can’t wait to get started tomorrow.
Sask Super 5th in the Soo
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