YORKTON - Chelsey Carey – who skipped a team here in Saskatcewan in the 2021-22 season – will be stepping into some massive curling shoes next season.
Carey will assume leadership of what had been Team Jennifer Jones until Jones announced in February she was stepping away from the competitive side of the four player game earlier this year.
“It’s exciting,” Carey told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview. “It’s one of those opportunities where I had to say yes, I couldn’t say no.”
However, Carey added she thought about maybe not taking the role simply because she knows it comes with the added pressure of taking over from a curling legend.
Jones leaves the game after winning six national titles, two world championships and an Olympic gold medal, and took a silver at this years Scotties too.
“I didn’t want to be put in the same discussion with Jones,” said Carey, adding in her mind Jennifer Jones is “the best curler of all time.”
So while saying she doesn’t consider herself at the same level as Jones, ultimately it was the opportunity she had to take.
It was an opportunity she had not been expecting, or even looking for. She did not have a team last season.
“I wasn’t going to put together a team mid-cycle,” she said
It helped that Carey, a two-time Canadian champion herself, was familiar with the Jones team of lead Lauren Lenentine, second Emily Zacharias and third Karlee Burgess, as she played a couple of events this past season as a spare with the crew.
“I played two events with them,” said Carey. “. . . I think that played in my favour (of being asked to take over the squad).”
Carey said in those limited games it felt very natural.
“It didn’t feel like we were new teammates,” she said.
While quickly reiterating she is in no way comparing herself in terms of success with Jones, Carey did note her ‘go-to’ option to get out of late end trouble is typically to look for a draw option, which also tends to be Jones’ approach too, so there will be some approach continuity there.
“I like to solve problems with draws,” she offered.
Now it will be a summer of readying for a season with a new team.
“There’s lots of off ice to do for sure,” said Carey, adding as a team they need to identify roles and responsibilities moving forward.
While in Saskatchewan in 2021-22 Carey teamed with Jolene Campbell, Stephanie Schmidt, Jennifer Armstrong and Rachel Erickson making it to the national championship in the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts as a wild card team.
