‘It would mean everything’: Peterson on high stakes at Olympic pre-trials

There is one spot up for grabs at Canada’s Olympic curling trials, and Winnipeg skipper Beth Peterson and her team are hoping to lock it up this week — with four babies in tow. 

Peterson, third Kelsey Calvert, second Katherine Remillard and lead Melissa Gordon Kurz are the only squad in the eight-team pre-Olympic Trials field in Nova Scotia who’ll be accompanied by so many babies, ranging in age from six weeks (Gordon Kurz’s son, Greyson) to seven months (Peterson’s daughter, Addison). 

“We expect they’ll all sleep like a dream,” Peterson says with a laugh, of Greyson, Leo, Louella and Addison. “They’ll all be angels.” 

Well, that’s all settled. 

That Olympic Trials berth, however, is still anything but. And it’s the 31-year-old Peterson who skips the top-seeded women’s team competing from Oct. 20-26 at Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, with the winners earning the eighth and final spot at Trials next month in Halifax and a chance to punch their ticket to the 2026 Winter Games.  

Peterson’s team is coming off a season in which they climbed to a best-ever CTRS ranking of No. 8. They now have their sights on that Trials berth and will need to emerge from an eight-team round robin where the top team goes straight to Sunday’s final, playing the winner of Nos. 2 and 3.   

Before Peterson, her teammates and all their babies boarded their flight to Nova Scotia, Sportsnet talked to the long-time skipper about the competition they face, the incredible depth of the field in her home province, and what it would mean to lock up that berth with this squad. 

SPORTSNET: How’s your team feeling ahead of this event?

PETERSON: We’re really excited. It’s been circled on the calendar for a while now. It’s going to be really good competition, teams we know really well. It’s going to be a long week for sure, but we have a really good support system, not just for our babies, but for our team, so we have a fifth and a coach. 

How would you rate the team’s confidence level? 

Last year was a really good career year for us. We had a lot of playoff appearances. We got the opportunity to beat some of those really good teams, top teams in the world. It gave us a lot of confidence. 

And we’re really proud of our results that we’ve had so far in this short season. We’re feeling confident, but I think you could say any team out there has a chance of winning this thing. We have such depth, especially in the women’s field. It’s going to be a very intense week but we’re feeling confident that we definitely could be there on Sunday. 

What teams do you expect to provide tough matchups? 

I mean, you’ve got [Krista] Scharf, who’s like a forever-at-the-end-of-the-Scotties kind of team. They’re going to be really tough [out of Thunder Bay, Ont.]. [Kayla] Macmillan’s had a really busy season, so they’re a well-oiled machine [from Victoria, B.C.]. And then I think you’re going to see teams like Team Plett [from Edmonton] — they’re a young team, but they’re super experienced, especially internationally. So that’s a game that we have circled that’s going to be a really tough one for sure.

What does your team need to do to go on a good run? 

We definitely have the added benefit of we’ve played together for so long, so we have that natural chemistry on the team that we’ve worked on for years. There are some other teams that have made changes to their lineup where they have to kind of figure things out in high-intensity situations. And we’ve been in that situation as a squad, so that’s definitely a benefit. But also just taking the things that we’ve worked on over the past few months — technical, strategic, sports psych. We’ve really put in a lot of work behind the scenes for this team and for this event. And then leaning on Chelsea [Carey, a two-time Scotties champion]. We’re really excited to have Chelsea coaching us. 

We got the opportunity to work with her at [Curling Canada’s] Pointsbet Invitational and kind of find our groove with her and we’ve had calls [with her] since. We’re really just putting all of our eggs in this event and we are feeling really confident and happy with everyone that we have coming with us to help us reach that goal. 

The Olympic Trials women’s field already has three teams from Manitoba [rinks skipped by Kerri Einarson, Kaitlyn Lawes and Kate Cameron]. You’d be the fourth. How tough is it competing in that province?  

I mean, it’s apparent by our two losses [in provincial finals the last two years]. It was tough years ago and with Jennifer [Jones] and Kerri and Tracy Fleury. We took our losses in those years, and then a whole other slew of teams steps right up… 

I’m just banking on the day that we win. Knowing we’ve had our losses, it’ll just make that win so much sweeter.

Has the team thought about relocating to another province?

Oh, for sure. And don’t get me wrong, after two provincial losses, it’s tempting [laughs], but you want to represent the province that you grew up playing in. That’s a big goal for us as well. 

What makes your team work so well together? 

Obviously, we have a big family situation on this team. And with that, there are some sacrifices where, for example, I don’t spend a whole week with my other two kids, taking time away from them. And so, we’re all aware of that and we all accept that and know that family is really important for each of us. Having those shared goals has been huge and it makes our team stronger. 

We were so lucky to bring Kelsey onto our team when our other teammate Jenna Loder had to step back a few years ago, and we’re so fortunate that Kelsey was available to play with us. She brings so much to the game from all of her experience. Katherine is like the light on our team. She’s such a bright personality, such an outgoing upbeat person, and we really depend on her for the times when it gets a little bit tougher or more intense. 

And then I have the added bonus of playing with Melissa, our lead, who is my cousin. We’ve never not curled together, so it’s just that natural chemistry that me and her have. I would find it hard not to curl with her at any point. It would mean the world to win those Pre-Trials with her — my best friend and my cousin. 

When did you and Melissa start curling together? 

We started in the Little Rocks program at Assiniboine Memorial [Curling Club in Winnipeg] when we were five. 

Wow, and it’s still your home club. Are there pictures of your team up everywhere? 

No, they don’t have enough pictures of us, honestly [laughs]. When we won our Junior Provincial Championship [in 2015], provincials was at the Assiniboine Memorial, so it was a really special moment that we won it there together in that club. But our pictures aren’t up there enough. That does remind me — I should let them know [laughs].

Absolutely. What would it mean for your team to qualify for Olympic Trials?

It would mean everything. The opportunity to play for the chance to represent your country is up there as one of the biggest moments of your life. So, we want to be in that situation in November where we’re playing in it instead of watching it on TV. And we really think that we have the skills and the mindset to be there. It’s going to take a lot of determination and concentration and good play throughout the week. But it would mean the world to us.

And then you head to Halifax and that Olympic Trials field is a total piece of cake, right?  

Yes, exactly [laughs]. It’s a cakewalk. I mean, obviously this is the first step, and then we’ll tackle that monster when it comes, hopefully.