Chelsea Carey was five years old when she started curling.
She might not remember much about her first experience on the ice, but she knows her dad has been there from the start.
Thirty years later, Dan Carey is still coaching his daughter, but this time as Team Canada at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
This is Carey’s second time wearing the maple leaf at the national championship. She won in 2016 and 2019. But it’s her first time representing Canada at the Scotties with her dad watching from the coaches’ bench.
“It’s stressful sometimes,” Dan said. “It’s a long week. There’s lots of ups and downs and happenings. It’s just fun to be part of it with her.”
Dan knows first hand the stress that comes with a national championship.
He won the 1992 Brier in Regina, playing as third for Vic Peters’ Manitoba rink. For Carey, who was seven years old at the time, it’s the moment she fell in love with the game.
“She watched us win the Brier and all the ceremony that went along with winning,” Dan said. “She was hooked on it from that point forward. It took over her life.”
After countless hours of practice, building her slide, talking strategy and strengthening her mental game, Carey’s hard work paid off, leading her Alberta rink to victory at the 2016 Scotties.
“As soon as we won the Scotties in 2016 he was the first person I was looking for,” Carey said. “It had literally come full circle. I grew up watching him and watching him win … and to be able to step into that ‘club’ that he calls it with him was a really neat moment.”
“It was fantastic to see it once, it was incredible to see it twice,” Dan said.
But Carey knows none of that would have been possible without her dad beside her every step of the way.
“Everything I know about the game is basically because of him and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him,” Carey said.
Carey is now fighting for a third Scotties title and back-to-back championships.
“I would love to repeat,” Carey said. “Any time you can win the Scotties regardless of anything else it would be amazing, but to be able to do it and stand there beside my dad is awesome.”
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