More Canadians turned out to cheer the Kelly Scott rink at Kelowna Airport than when the team became world curling champions in Japan on Sunday.
A jubilant crowd of 70 relatives and well-wishers basked in the afterglow of global domination as Scott, third Jeanna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter and lead Renee Simons strode into the arrivals area Monday afternoon.
“It‘s great to be home,” the diminutive Scott said amid the cameras and microphones. “We are exhausted and we‘re craving some family time. Hopefully we can have a weekend at home to catch up with the family.”
Fewer than 30 Canadian fans watched the final match, when Canada beat Denmark 8-4 in Aomori. They were rowdy, Scott said, and made up for their low numbers by wearing red and white and waving Canadian flags.
The small turnout meant less pressure and better focus on winning the tournament, said coach Gerry Richard.
“Some games there were 300 to 400 people in the stands, and that was it,” he said. “We enjoyed not being under the microscope as much as we were last year at the world championships (in Grande Prairie, Alta.)”
Canada‘s only loss at the tournament was to Scotland during the round robin. A few misses and half-missed shots during the early ends of the final against Denmark never fazed the team, Scott said.
“Ice conditions were a little iffy that final game and we just said, ‘Let‘s hang in there, we‘ll figure this out, let‘s keep working together.‘ Really, it was the strength of our combined efforts that got us through that game.”
A steal of two in the seventh end put Canada up three points.
“That‘s huge because I think at that point we only had three ends left to play. So three points (ahead), three ends left, I like our chances. Making sure that we scored one point in the ninth end was really the cap-off.”
The best moment of the tournament? Hearing the national anthem, said Scott.
“And you watched that Canadian flag go up. That‘s a proud, proud moment.”
Curling fans Sharon and Eugene Leveque, dressed in Canadian regalia, greeted the athletes with roses and a request for them to sign a Canadian flag autographed by previous world champions like Curtis Blewett (sailing), Conrad Leinemann (volleyball) and Sarah Charles (trampoline).
“We have so many world champions in Kelowna. Isn‘t it nice to have more?” Sharon Leveque said.
Scott moved to the city from Winnipeg in 1996 after her family bought a business here. Carter, who won the junior world championship with Scott in 1991, followed her in 2000.
“It‘s a great place to live. It‘s a fun place to come and golf all summer and then curl all winter,” said Carter, whose mother flew to Kelowna from Winnipeg to greet her.
“The (Kelowna Curling) club is really nice . . . They make ice available to us. They do whatever they can, and if you‘ve got the drive, they‘ll give you the opportunity.”
Still, for a city of 106,000, Kelowna has seen an inordinate number of world champs – including Gerry Richard, who teamed up with Rick Folk to win the world men‘s curling championship in the 1990s.
“When I moved (here), the champion was the Gerry Richard and Rick Folk team and Gerry is now our coach,” Scott said. “If you want to be a champion, maybe you just hang out with
champions.
“We were able to find a good, dedicated team of girls and coaches and we put a lot of hard work into it and made ourselves champions.”
