This time last year, Chelsea Carey’s rink reached the pinnacle of women’s curling in Canada, winning the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
It came with the trophy, the celebrations and the opportunity to wear the Maple Leaf at the world curling championships. It also came with a cash prize of $59,000.
Two weeks later, Kevin Koe’s Alberta rink won close to double that amount, taking home $100,500 after his 2019 Tim Hortons Brier win.
Now, Curling Canada is putting an emphasis on equality. At the end of 2019, the organization announced it will match the prize money for both the men’s and women’s championships.
“I think it’s great that we’re now even with the men,” said Krista McCarville, skip of Team Northern Ontario.
“It should have probably been like this years ago, but definitely it’s a bonus to get that little extra cash.”
That little extra cash is a total purse of $300,000 for both the Scotties and Brier. The winner gets $105,000, with second place earning $65,000 and third taking home $45,000.
The rest of the money, which equals $85,000, is split between the remaining 13 teams based on standings.
But money isn’t top of mind for six-time Scotties champion Jennifer Jones.
“Right now you’re not thinking about that, we’re just thinking about trying to represent Canada and wear the Maple Leaf,” said Jones, the skip of Team Wild Card.
“But it’s great for our sport that we’ve taken this step and hopefully that will continue for years to come.”
Jones said women’s curling has always been in “a really good spot.”
“We have always had great TV coverage, great media coverage, we’ve had some really good exposure which a lot of women’s sports don’t get at the moment,” Jones said.
“Hopefully that will change, just the profile of it all and just show what we can do and see us shine.”
Jones secured her spot in the playoffs Thursday night following an 8-3 win over Team Saskatchewan.
Manitoba, Ontario and Northern Ontario clinched the other playoff spots.
On top of the prize money, both Scotties and Brier champions will earn $170,000 in Sport Canada Funding over the next two years.
The Scotties final is Sunday night at 6 p.m.