OUT OF THE HACK: Officer hopes for one last golden finish

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This article was published 14/03/2018 (2978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the age of 10, Jill Officer’s mom signed her up for curling at the Rossmere club in Winnipeg.

Now 42 years old, Officer, who spent a handful of years reporting at CKX in Brandon, is preparing for her final major event, the women’s world championship, which begins Saturday in North Bay, Ont.

She announced earlier this month that she will be stepping away from the sport.

“It wasn’t really an easy decision and it took a lot of time and consideration but it’s really something that’s been on my mind for probably close to a couple of years,” Officer said on Tuesday. “It’s something that the girls were very aware of and we talked about it last summer even, so it’s just been a process over time of knowing that it was coming and then making the final decision in January, and making the announcement.

“Since the announcement I’ve felt quite a bit of relief that it was out there, that people know and that we won’t have to dodge questions when we are curling at the worlds. I just feel really good about it and it’s a long process to get there.”

“What it came down to more of, I was just tired of the grind and tired of the same routines and just not having the motivation in those kinds of ways to keep it up,” she continued.

The veteran second for Jennifer Jones — a partnership that began during their junior days in the early 1990s — Officer’s accomplishments match up with some of Canada’s all-time greatest curlers.

Officer claimed her first buffalo in 1993 by teaming up with Jones to win a junior crown. The duo, along with Trisha Baldwin and Dana Malanchuk, defended it the following year before going on to win the national title with an 8-5 triumph over Sherry Linton of Saskatchewan.

Officer also represented the province at mixed nationals in 1996 and 2004, but she rose to prominence when she joined Jones’ women’s team at the start of the 2003-04 season.

It was the beginning of a magical run that included, seven provincial Scotties victories (2018, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2008, 2007 and 2005), 12 national Scotties appearances from 2005 to 2018, a record-tying six Canadian titles (2018, 2015, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2005), which she shares with Jones and Nova Scotian Colleen Jones, and three world championship medals, highlighted by a 7-4 Canadian win over China’s Bingyu Wang 10 years ago in Vernon, B.C.

But the biggest moment of her curling career came at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, when Officer, Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes and Dawn McEwen won gold for Canada, completing a perfect 11-0 week with a 6-3 win over Margaretha Sigfridsson’s Swedish squad.

Officer has also won 15 Grand Slam of Curling titles and her seven Manitoba women’s titles is tied for second all-time alongside former teammates Cathy Overton-Clapham and Janet Arnott.

The only player with more is Jennifer Jones with eight, the last of which came with a steely 10th-end draw to the button to defeat Darcy Robertson 7-6 in the final in January at Killarney’s Shamrock Centre.

Officer received a huge honour on Wednesday as she was announced as part of the 2018 Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame induction class. Her, Jones, Peter Nicholls and Cindy Maddock will enter the Hall on May 6 along with Hal Tanasichuk’s 1977 Canadian mixed championship team and Norm Houck’s 1987 national senior championship squad.

“Things really changed when Jennifer Jones asked me to curl with her,” Officer said. “We started having some immediate success and then when we won the Canadian juniors in 1994 we had the opportunity to spend some time with Sandra Schmirler’s team because they were Team Canada as well, and I’ve always thought that getting to know them and knowing Connie Laliberte’s team from Manitoba as well I felt like we had the opportunity to see that they were normal people and down to earth.

“When Sandra’s team went on to the Olympics in 1998 I thought maybe one day we could get there … but going on to win six (national Scotties) I don’t even have a word for it.”

Although Officer will be at next year’s national Scotties as the fifth player with Jones, Lawes and McEwen, she knows it will be strange watching the team curl with Jocelyn Peterman, who will replace Officer next season.

“I think the weirdest thing for me will be to sit at home and watch them curl on TV,” she said. “I remember when I was pregnant and I watched them play online when they were in Norway and it was just so bizarre to not be there with them and with Jennifer, so I think that’s going to be weird. And when I see pictures of the team with Jocelyn I think this is going to be weird because Jennifer and I have been together for so long.

“I think it will be weird for a lot of people for a period of time and I think it’s because of the length of the curling career that we’ve had, and pretty much everything we’ve accomplished has been together.”

Officer and company earned the right to don the Red and White at North Bay Memorial Gardens by knocking off her niece Kristin MacCuish and Kerri Einarson’s wildcard team from East St. Paul 8-6 in last month’s Canadian final in Penticton, B.C., with Shannon Birchard filling in at third. Lawes was away at the PyeongChang Olympic Games, winning a mixed doubles gold medal with John Morris.

And the Canadian squad will be looking to defend the title won last year in Beijing by Ottawa’s Rachel Homan. She bested Russia’s Anna Sidorova 8-3 in the final, and it marked the first world championship victory for Canada since 2008 when Jones’ team did so.

“Any time you get a chance to wear the Team Canada uniform and go to a world championship it’s awesome and I think this one will be special regardless of what happens,” Officer said. “It will be the last major championship with the girls and we’re all really looking forward to it.”

The last time Officer played on the international stage was three years ago when Canada lost the championship game 5-3 to Switzlerland’s Alina Pätz in Sapporo, Japan.

As much as the former Wheat City resident would like to stand atop the podium on the world stage one more time, it’s not going to be easy as Canada is joined in the 13-team field by last month’s Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg from Sweden and the silver medalists from South Korea led by skip Eun-jung Kim.

Canada opens with a game against Czech Republic skip Anna Kubeskova on Saturday afternoon. The medal games will take place on March 25.

“Team Canada is always going there to try and win the gold medal, it’s kind of in our blood in the curling world to want to do that, so that’s certainly what we are hoping we can achieve,” Officer said. “I think that what we need to do is go and enjoy the experience with it being the four of us and I think if we do that we’ll play well, and hopefully it works out because ultimately it would cap off a great run.”

TRAVELERS: Neil Bugg of Boissevain, Neepawa’s Kyle Csversko and Dauphinite Kyle Forsyth are in the 12-team Manitoba men’s club championship which runs from today to Sunday in Carman. In the women’s event, Kelsey Russill is skipping a team from the Brandon club, while Dauphin’s Morgan Kropelnicki and Liza Park of Deloraine are also in the field. The winners will represent the province at nationals in November.

JUNIOR BERTH SPIELS: A trio of Westman junior women’s curlers will be looking to help their respective teams earn a spot at the 2019 provincial championship in Melita at this weekend’s spring berth bonspiel in Swan Lake. Dauphin’s Lauryn Kuzyk throws third stones for Mackenzie Zacharias’s Elmwood club squad, Hanne Jensen of Ochre River plays third with Alex Friesen of Assiniboine Memorial and Dauphinite Lane Prokopowich is the lead on Lorette skip Serena Gray-Withers’ team. Meanwhile, Brett Walter from the Elmwood club has former Brandonite Chase Dusessoy playing second for him at the junior men’s berth bonspiel, with Birtle’s Colton Harris at the same position on Morris-based Zachary Wasylik’s team. Two berths will be awarded to each gender.

EXTRA ENDS: The Brandon club’s championship day is Saturday, with Riverview’s championship weekend slated for March 24 and 25 … The Grandview men’s bonspiel is happening March 22-25 and costs $160 per foursome. For more information, contact Dwight at 204-546-2325 … A Spring Mixed Bonspiel in Neepawa will be held March 23-24 and costs $120 per team. Contact Wanda Rainka at 204-476-3546 for more details … The 20th annual Survivor Bonspiel in Souris is happening from

March 28 to April 1. The cost varies from $60 to $200 per team depending on age. For more details, contact the club at 204-483-3669 or Karen at 204-483-3534 … Pilot Mound’s open bonspiel is from April 5 to 8 and costs $120 per team. For more information, contact Kendall Maxwell at 204-245-0036.

Nathan Liewicki is The Brandon Sun’s curling reporter.

» nliewicki@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @liewicks