RED DEER, ALTA. — Thursday afternoon was an emotional one for P.E.I. skip Kim Dolan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The Island squad defeated New Brunswick’s Rebecca Atkinson 11-4 to finish the national women’s curling championship with a 3-8 record.
However, moments after the win Dolan announced the game was her last in competitive curling.
“It’s a great way to go out,” the 53-year-old Charlottetown skip told Fred Rinne in a story that appeared on the Canadian Curling Association website (www.curling.
ca).
“It would have been nice to have a few more (wins) through the week, we had great games and my team played well.”
Dolan got to play alongside her daughter Sinead in her ninth Scotties appearance as a player or coach.
Other members of the P.E.I. rink were Rebecca Jean MacDonald, Nancy Cameron, Michala Robison and coach Daryell Nowlan.
The chair of last year’s Scotties in Charlottetown says she will have fond memories from her years of competitive curling.
“It’s the people and the curlers and certainly, beyond most, it’s my teammates and all the teammates I have had over the years, just the friendships across this country,” said Dolan.
“I don’t think there’s any place you’d rather be than being one of the curlers knowing those other curlers.”
So is this really it for Dolan?
Can she stay away from the Charlottetown Curling Club for very long?
“There’s always things to be done,” she laughs. “I’ve spent a lot of years, curling’s been great to me, maybe it’s time to take a little rest from that.
“You never knows what comes up, I never like to say I’m completely out of everything, but last year was a big year (hosting), this year was a big year with winning (provincial championship), and I think it’s time to take a rest for a little while.”
Includes information from
the Canadian Curling Association
and The Canadian Press
