Advertisement

Alberta baby stealing ‘Hearts’ in the Scotties curling bubble

Five-month-old Liam is keeping Laura and Geoff Walker busy inside Calgary's curling bubble. Zoom

Win or lose, Alberta skip Laura Walker knows the biggest prize is waiting for her outside of Calgary’s WinSport curling sheets.

Her five-month-old son, Liam, is the lone baby in the curling bubble.

Story continues below advertisement

He likely won’t remember any of it, but his parents say it’ll be quite the story to tell him when he’s older.

“I’ll tell him he was on TV, probably more than either of his parents were, and just was a little bit of a star of the show,” Laura said with Liam on her lap and husband, Geoff, by her side.

“Hopefully, that his mom won the Scotties in the year that he was stuck in a hotel room,” Geoff added with a smile.

While Laura competes, stay-at-hotel dad Geoff takes the reigns.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

After getting Liam through some restless nights, their days are now filled with naps, parking-lot walks, playtime, and of course, watching curling. Liam has even started to recognize his mom’s voice on TV.

It’s a routine the young family will settle into for up to nine weeks in total.

After the Scotties wrap, Geoff and the rest of Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland and Labrador rink will reunite for the Brier, and potentially, the men’s world championship.

Then Laura and Geoff will team up for mixed doubles competition.

Story continues below advertisement

But wait — there’s more!

Both plan to compete in another pair of Grand Slam events later this spring.

Once all of the events wrap, Liam will have spent nearly a third of his young life in the hotel.

“By the time we leave, he could possibly be seven months already,” Geoff said. “There should be a lot of changes, little milestones and stuff.”

“He’ll be crawling. He’ll be eating more solid foods. He’ll be kind of using his hands better and just like playing very differently,” Laura added.

Story continues below advertisement

While many athletes have been dealing with the mental grind of bubble boredom, the Walkers are thankful to be kept busy.

The experience has also adjusted their mindsets as athletes.

“You come back and I’ve got to keep him alive, whether I’m happy or sad or mad about what just happened up there on the ice, so I think you get over it a little bit quicker. That’s been the hardest part for me is just relearning what I can do with the time that I have and how I can manage everything here as both an athlete and a mom.”

For the Walkers, these are memories that will last a lifetime, and they hope the unusual living arrangement has brought as much joy to others as it has to them.

Sponsored content

AdChoices