GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Nunavut’s debut at the Canadian women’s curling championship was dramatic. Geneva Chislett’s team from Iqaluit earned the territory’s first ever victory at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Nunavut downed B.C.’s Karla Thompson 8-7 in the first draw of the pre-tournament qualifier Thursday.
The two teams, plus Northwest Territories and Yukon are playing off for a berth in the main draw starting Saturday in Grande Prairie.
Chislett wiped tears from her eyes as she hugged third Denise Hutchings, second Robyn Mackey and lead Jenine Bodner following the game.
"I’m very emotional," the skip said. "We just wanted to go out there and try and be competitive and we lucked out with a win. It’s awesome for curling in Nunavut.
"It’s the first time we’ve ever been here. It’s a bonus to have a win."
Kerry Galusha’s Northwest Territories team downed Yukon’s Nicole Baldwin 10-7 in Thursday’s other game. The teams with the two best records in the qualifier meet Saturday for the right to join the dozen in the main draw.
Unlike the provinces that have easier access to ice time and strong competition, territories teams have traditionally arrived at Canadian championships short on both compared to their counterparts south of the 60th parallel.
Nunavut, the largest and least populated of Canada’s three territories, has less than 500 curlers and just a handful of designated curling facilities.
"Curling at this level is very challenging in Nunavut because of our geographical location, Chislett said. "Our closest community that we can go curling is Ottawa. That’s a three-hour plane ride away and the average ticket probably costs over two thousand dollars.
"We don’t get to play other competitive teams. We play mostly in our open league with men’s teams."
Arthur Siksik and Sadie Pinksen also made history for Nunavut curling last month with their teams winning the territory’s first games at the Canadian junior championships in Stratford, Ont.
It took time and some painful losses before those victories, however, as Nunavut first entered teams in the national junior championships in 2013.
"The amount of resilience the juniors have shown the last number of years going out there and facing devastating losses by big numbers and to still get on the ice and smile and compete and try and get that win, it boosted us to come out and be resilient and try to be competitive and hope for the same thing ourselves," Chislett said.
The 51-year-old skip is the Iqaluit’s city controller. Hutchings, 47, and Mackey, 49, also work for the city while 31-year-old Bodner works for an energy company.
Nunavut stole two points in the first end and scored three in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead on B.C. after five ends, but Chislett’s team came under some time-clock pressure in the back half of the game.
Teams have 38 minutes when rocks are not in motion to plot strategy and get into position to deliver their stones. Nunavut had just under 11 minutes to play their final three ends, so they had to pick up the pace.
"We definitely wanted to prove we belong here," Chislett said. "Maybe we don’t get all the competition that we need, but we deserve to be here. With this win, we showed we should be here."
In order to include every province and territory in the national championship, Curling Canada introduced a pre-tournament qualifier at both the Scotties and Brier last year.
In the case of the women’s championship, it was to include the three territories and Northern Ontario playing off for entry into the main draw.
The Nunavut Curling Association did not feel ready to send a women’s team to Moose Jaw, Sask., in 2015, so it was a three-team affair with Northern Ontario earning the berth.