25th Anniversary of Sutton Team’s Canadian Junior Ladies Curling Championship
How did they get there?
It all started in a two days a week after school league at the Oliver Curling Centre. After getting the basics, the girls competed in Junior Bonspiels in the Okanagan, curled with our local ladies and competed in club and open bonspiels both in Oliver and in other centres.
They first turned their sights on the BC high school competitions. In 1985, the team of Jodie and Julie Sutton, Dawn Rubner and Tammy Hagel captured the BC High School Championships. The following year (1986) Jodie, Julie, Teresa Ziebart and Michelle Surovy repeated the fete.
The same year Jodie, Julie and Dawn Rubner of Oliver teamed up with lead Chris Thompson of Kelowna to win the BC and Canadian Junior Championships.
The following year Jodie went to Thailand on a Rotary scholarship and the other team members went on to different pursuits. Julie then teamed up with three Kelowna girls, Judy Wood, Susan Auty and Marla Geiger, and they proceeded to win the BC and Canadian Junior Ladies Championships.
In 1988, Julie led this team to the first ever World Junior Ladies Championship in Chamonix, France. Julie carried on with her remarkable curling career with different curlers – in 1989 winning the BC Ladies title. 1991 found her reuniting with sister Jodie, Melissa Soligo and Kerri Wilms and winning both the BC and Canadian Ladies finishing up with a Silver Medal in an extra end loss to Dordi Nordby of Norway at the Ladies World Championships. They also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Olympics with Melissa Soligo and Kerri Willms.
In 1993, the same team repeated as the BC Ladies winner.
In 1995 marriage interrupted Julie’s curling for a few years. Then in 1999, she teamed up with Team Law of Vancouver for a successful stint. This team won the BC, Canadian and World Ladies Championship in 2000, lost to Colleen Jones on an extra end measure in 2001 and then won the Canadian Olympic trials and went on to a Bronze Medal in the Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Where are they now? After winning the Bronze medal at the Olympics, Julie retired from curling to continue her travel-consulting career and be a full time hockey mom in Victoria. Most recently she has been named Team Captain for Team North America competing in the 2012 Continental Cup of Curling being held in Langley, BC.
Jodie is married to Gary and living in Nanaimo.
Dawn is a part time xray /CT scan technologist, married with two children and is living in Calgary. She has retired from curling, but would love to get back to it one day.
Dawn’s reflection on the experience, “I remember that week that I probably curled the worst I had ever curled … Ha! Ha! … I think I curled 64%. I remember the excitement of going to the Canadians, being so proud to wear the sweater with BC on the back, the nerves, the friendships … a dream come true! My perspective on winning a major championship:
Even though it is 25 years ago now, it is still way cool and something I will always be proud of … as a mom talking to my kids … it is something to share and helps them understand that anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself, you never know where the stars will take you!”
The girl’s hard-won banners still hang proudly over the ice surface in the curling centre in Oliver serving as a reminder and an inspiration. Who will our next champions be?
Registration for the 2011-12 season happens on Friday, September 23rd beginning at 7:00 pm at the centre. Come join the fun!
photo and story submitted by Oliver Curling Club
1992 (Albertville, France) Women’s Bronze Medalists (Demonstration Sport) Julie Sutton, Jodie Sutton, Melissa Soligo, Karri Willms
2002 (Salt Lake City, USA) Women’s Bronze Medalists
Kelley Law, Julie Skinner, Georgina Wheatcroft, Diane Nelson, Cheryl Noble