News Elite 10

By Emma Miskew

There are always debates about the difference between men and women in sport. Everyone has their opinion, but in general most people would argue that the men seem to be better, faster, and stronger. This can be attributed mainly to physical differences, and is the reason that women and men don’t compete against each other on a regular basis in many sports, if any at all.

In 2003, Annika Sorenstam, who was the top women’s golfer in the world at the time, competed in the Bank of America Colonial, a men’s event. This was the first time a woman competed in a PGA Tour event since 1945 and it was pretty big news. A few years later in 2006, Michelle Wie, one of the more physically stronger women, played in the Sony Open (a men’s U.S. Open qualifier) and the John Deere Classic PGA tournament. While these ladies were forces to be reckoned with on the women’s LPGA Tour, both missed the cut playing against the men.

Another sport that has had some overlap between men’s and women’s play is tennis. In 1973, the Battle of the Sexes event was widely publicized and watched. Bobby Riggs, a senior men’s player, had a match against Billie Jean King, a female player at the top of her game. History was made when King won the match, handily.

In curling, the women seldom compete against the men. The Battle of the Sexes between the Marilyn Bodogh and the Ed Werenich teams at the Worlds in Toronto in 1986 was highly entertaining but resulted in a Werenich win. Years later, in 2009, Jennifer Jones’ team competed in Skins games against the Glenn Howard team. And in 2011, Cheryl Bernard’s team played in the Casino Rama Skins game, giving Kevin Martin’s team a very good game before succumbing.

It’s obvious that strength factors exist separating the men from the women. While our team and many other women’s teams work very hard to be excellent sweepers and throw the most weight possible, the majority of men will have an edge on us simply because of their physical size and strength, as they can throw more weight accurately and sweep harder.

However, the difference in sweeping has forced our team to become one of the best technical throwers out there as we don’t have quite as much room for error as the men do when it comes to throwing the rock. We’re also known as one of the women’s teams that can most accurately throw heavy hit weight allowing us to bail when things aren’t going well.

Just recently, our team had the honour of getting an invitation to play in the Elite 10 men’s Grand Slam event, which is taking place in Victoria March 17-20. We had an amazing tour season in the fall, winning three of four of the women’s slams.

While we may have chirped a few of the men’s teams challenging them to games, I’m not sure we ever expected that we would be put to the test by being asked to play in not only a men’s event, but also one that invites the top 10 teams in the world. We have watched and admired these teams for their shot making, strategy and sweeping abilities all season, so it will be an exciting experience for us to be able to play against some of the very best.

As we haven’t been in this position before, we also aren’t sure what to expect. People are asking us if we’re feeling pressure to prove to the men that we can play, and to be honest, we really aren’t. We know we’re capable of making shots, and whether we make enough to beat the men, we won’t know until it happens!

Right now, we’re just super excited to get back on the ice as a team and compete in this amazing event with some of the best men’s teams in the world.