Playing in Co-op Canadian Open ‘means everything’ to Sturmay
The Co-op Canadian Open has been on Selena Sturmay’s radar all year.
That’s because the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, running Tuesday to Sunday at the Silent Ice Center in Nisku, is right in her Edmonton-based team’s backyard.
Sturmay said having supporters in the stands goes a long way and provides extra motivation for her team, which includes third Danielle Schmiemann, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Paige Papley.
“To be able to play in this calibre of event kind of right at home means everything to us,” Sturmay said during a recent phone interview. “I think having all of our friends, families and sponsors come out and watch us is going to be something really cool. Just really looking forward to that.”
Considering the team is one of the top Canadian clubs in the world, it might be hard to believe it was only last year that Sturmay and Papley joined forces with Schmiemann and Hawes. The team was ranked 39th in the world to start its run together but steadily chipped away at the standings with consistent performances to finish the season 14th.
“Looking back on it, it was crazy to think that last year we weren’t even in the Tier 2 event,” Sturmay said. “We kind of didn’t really have a chance at any of those types of invitational events, but going into last year we knew it was going to be more of a building year and just understanding each other as players, how we work and getting all of those finer details down. I think the jump in the rankings has proven we’ve done that.
“This year is kind of the same thing for us. We’re just trying to grow on what we’ve already achieved and just looking to peak at the right time really.”
The highlight of last season for Team Sturmay was representing Alberta on home ice at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary and finishing fourth.
“I know the media and a bunch of people have chalked it up to more of a lucky success story but I think for me, all of us on the team have been knocking on the door in competitive curling for a long time now,” Sturmay said. “We were ranked I believe fifth going into the event. I think for me the biggest thing that I’ve taken away is to just have confidence in these events to know that I belong there. To just go out there and do what we love to do and not really put too much pressure on the outcome and the results.”
The jump in the rankings meant Team Sturmay got out to a much different start this season from not even being in the Tier 2 of the HearingLife Tour Challenge to receiving an invitation to compete in the Tier 1 division.
“I think it’s just been different in that regard where we’ve played a lot higher calibre of teams early in the season,” said Sturmay, whose team also played in the PointsBet Invitational before the HearingLife Tour Challenge. “Even though the results might not be there that we’ve been hoping for I think we’ve done a good job of learning something from every game and bringing that forward. I think we just have to be patient this season and the results will eventually come.”
