CALGARY – Northern Ontario team Christa McCarville has been a perennial contender in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for nearly a decade.
The Thunder Bay quartet of McCarville, Kendra Lilly, Ashley Cipala and Sara Potts and coach Rick Lang have been a mainstay of the Canadian Women’s Curling Championship in recent years, and will be at the Scotties this week in Calgary. This will be his seventh appearance since 2016.
They have qualified for the playoffs in each of their respective competitions, reaching the finals in 2016 and 2022, but have yet to reach the top of the podium.
Despite the consistent results, McCarville and company believe changes are needed to overcome the challenges following last year’s semifinal loss to Canada’s Team Kelly Einarson in Kamloops, British Columbia. It was deemed necessary.
By addition, not by subtraction.
Enter Andrea Kelly.
“We wanted to add someone to the team, someone fresh and new,” McCarville told TSN.ca Monday morning after the win over Prince Edward Island. “Andrea is a great shooter because she has a lot of experience. We were going to use her as a third and she can throw high heaters really easily and she is good at that. I thought he was perfect for third place.”
McCarville is a full-time skip and Kelly is a permanent third. Lilly, Shippala, and Potts will take turns sharing front-end duties.
Kelly, 39, is no stranger to the tournament, having missed New Brunswick in the Tournament of Hearts 11 times during his career, winning bronze in 2022.
She admits the transition from skip to third place hasn’t been completely smooth as the team is still trying to figure out the ice at WinSport Arena.
“It’s definitely been a bit of a difficult week for us so far. For me, playing in the third is definitely an adjustment and the biggest adjustment for me is judging the weight,” Kelly said. explained. “When you step on the ice at the Scotties, it’s a completely different ice surface than the ice surface we play on all year long. For me, that’s the hardest thing to understand. We’re there. It’s getting closer.”
Kelly is shooting 84 percent through four games.
In the evening tie, Team McCarville defeated the University of Newfoundland and Labrador 8-3, improving their record to 3-2. They defeated British Columbia’s Team Colin Brown in Friday’s opener, but lost to Canada’s Team Einarson and Saskatchewan’s Team Skylar Ackerman over the weekend.
The top three teams from each pool will advance to the playoffs in an eight-game round robin.
“We’ve had a hard time reading the ice and getting the kick feel we need,” said McCarville, who shot 96 percent in his best game to date against P.E.I.
Team McCarville was a little slow on the ice for the Scotties this year, but off the ice the chemistry with their new teammates continued throughout the season.
“I know we’ve been using the word ‘easy’ all season. It felt pretty easy, to be honest,” Kelly explained of the team’s new formation.
“I feel like she supports me really well as a third,” McCarville added. “We seem to talk a lot on and off the ice, and I think everything is going well.”
Kelly, who works as a labor relations official in Fredericton, New Brunswick, said he has played against McCarville many times with the Scotties over the years and now that he is a member of the team, he truly appreciates their loyalty.
“One of the things I admired about them this year was their ability to be really honest with each other when they needed to be, and I admired that in them,” Kelly said. “We’re not trying to protect anyone’s feelings because we’re all really working toward the same goal. So if you have something to say, say it. You can say that and on this team it’s taken the right way.” I appreciate that about them. ”
Over the past few games against the Scotties, Team McCarville has become one of the most popular rinks in curling.
Kelly said the team has a great balance between being competitive and appreciating all the different moments they experience at the Scotties.
“Curling is something we love to do, but it’s not all about us,” McCarville said. “We love to do it and we’re pretty good at it. We just like to have a little fun. We’re goofy here and there and we let our fans and people on the outside know who we are. I like to show. We don’t just live life on the ice seriously.”
However, because of its popularity, it will take you a little longer to go grocery shopping in Thunder Bay.
“I shop at Superstore a lot and it’s kind of funny because I seem to get a lot of attention there,” McCarville said.
The 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be held in McCarville’s hometown of Thunder Bay.