Calgary curlers Becca Hebert, Dezaray Hawes feeling confident about winning provincial women’s crown
Becca Hebert has watched her husband’s first cousin, Ben, win a handful of national curling titles.
So the Chestermere rock star is an easy go-to guy for advice in the sport and what it takes to be a winner.
“Oh … absolutely,” agreed Hebert, of the high-profile Brandon Bottcher lead and four-time Brier champion. “Like it’s a really great perspective to see where Ben is at and what it takes to be at the very top. He provides a lot of insight and mentorship along the way. He’s very open to answering any questions I have.
“So it’s definitely a push for me to see where I would like to be.”
Where Calgary’s Hebert is this week — in a push to become a national champ — is at the Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Paul.
The eight-team event to decide a provincial winner, which opened Wednesday night and rolls through Sunday, is the next step in the process of joining her cousin-in-law as another Hebert on the medal podium at a Canadian championship.
And she feels the crew she’s with — that being Team Hunkin from Spruce Grove — can help her find, at least, what has proven to be an elusive Alberta victory.
After all, skip Jessie Hunkin and third Jessie Haughian do boast provincial-winning resumés. Hunkin played second for Robyn Silvernagle’s two-time Saskatchewan-champion squad in both 2019 and 2020, while Haughian was the second for the Alberta winner skipped by big sister Casey Scheidegger in 2018.
“And between all of us, we’ve lost maybe five or six provincial finals,” said Hebert, herself having dropped the 2020 Alberta finale with Kelsey Rocque’s crew. “So we definitely know we have the ability to get there and be there, which is a nice feeling to have. And to be honest, we’re all moms (including lead Dayna Demmans) — we’ve got nine children between all of us, and I think that gives us a very unique edge and a unique perspective on the game, which sets us a little bit apart from the other teams.”
Indeed, it is a young — and kid-free — field relative to other years.
And it is comprised mostly of Edmonton-area teams.
Selena Sturmay and Serena Gray-Withers — both Saville Community Sports Centre squads — joined Hunkin as qualifiers through World Curling Team Rankings, while Saville clubmate Gracelyn Richards earned a berth at the Airdrie qualifier and Thistle Curling Club’s Nicky Kaufman and Sherwood Park’s Michelle Hartwell sealed invites at the Westlock qualifier.
The two Southern Alberta teams on hand are the Curling Alberta Excel Points Race earners and defending provincial queens — skipped by Kayla Skrlik out of Calgary’s Garrison Curling Club — and Jodi Vaughan’s Lethbridge rink, which also qualified through the Airdrie event.
“I think there’s a lot of teams that could take the title this year,” Hebert said. “In my gut, it’s whatever team decides they want it to be there and come out and perform that week.
“I think for us, it’s getting into a good flow state within our own team,” continued Hebert. “Then once we hit that state, it’s kind of like you’re just worrying about yourself and you’re just in a really nice routine and things are kind of just moving along. If we can hit that state early and maintain it for the week, I think we’ve got a very good chance at being successful.”
Dezaray Hawes, a second for Sturmay and a fellow Calgary product, thinks the same of her strong squad, also based in Edmonton.
Like the Hunkin crew, Team Sturmay sports plenty of big-game experience, including third Danielle Schmiemann — a former Rocque star — and Hawes — a two-time B.C. rep at the national Scotties with Kamloops’ Corryn Brown in both 2020 and ’21.
“At the start of the season, with a brand new team, we were just trying to get new routines going and all that good stuff,” said Hawes, 26 and just six months in being an Albertan after moving in the summer to Calgary from Peachland, B.C. “We definitely had a bit of a slower start, but it definitely feels like every event, we’ve climbed the ladder and continued to play better and continued to learn each other’s tendencies, and all that has really paid off.”
Sturmay, Hawes & Co. did hit St. Paul as the top-ranked team, having accumulated more points than any other Alberta squad in both the Excel Points Race and the World Curling Team Rankings.
And they head in fresh off last week’s Canadian Open — a Grand Slam of Curling major — in Red Deer, during which they finished with a 1-3 record but held their own against Canada’s élite teams.
“After Christmas, there’s typically not a lot of events to play in to lead into provincials,” added Hawes. “So you go the first couple months of your season playing every week, and then suddenly, you have this two-month break. So it’s really nice to get some really good quality games in right before provincials.
“So we feel like we can contend and be there at the end.”
EXTRA ENDS
Wednesday night’s draw kicked off the provincials, which are capped by Sunday’s crowning of the champion rink after the finale (3 p.m.) … Draw 1 saw: Hunkin v. Vaughn; Kaufman v. Skrlik; Richards v. Sturmay; and Gray-Withers v. Hartwell … After four days of round-robin action — including two draws each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday — the top three teams make Sunday’s playoff round, which begins with the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in semifinal play (10 a.m.) … Beyond Hawes and Hebert, three other Calgary-area curlers are participating in provincials — Cochrane’s Zoe Cinnamon at lead for Gray-Withers and Okotoks’ Valerie Ekelund and Olympic silver-medallist Susan O’Connor, of Calgary, as lead and alternate respectively for Vaughan.