Kerry Galusha might have abandoned the idea of matching team socks, but don't ask her to change her shampoo. The skip of the Yukon/Northwest Territories team is definitely packing her superstitions along to Victoria and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, starting on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
"I'm the most superstitious on the team, by far," Galusha said. "I drive the rest of the team nuts."
Galusha will be using all her favourite hair products to promote good karma, although the experience of appearing at six Scotties, including the last five straight, as well as two Canadian mixed and five Canadian junior championships, might help too.
In fact, the whole Yukon/NWT team is jam-packed with national experience. It's the day-to-day competition they miss, but that's just a fact of life in the North, where competitive curlers are scarce. The only way Galusha's team of third Dawn Moses, second Shona Barbour, and lead Heather McCagg-Nystrom can get together for a game or practice, much less a World Curling Tour event, is to fly.
Galusha lives in Yellowknife, where the team is based out of the Yellowknife Curling Club, while her teammates are, by air, anywhere from 300 to 1,100 kilometres away. Moses resides in Fort Simpson, Barbour in Inuvik, and McCagg-Nystrom in Fort Smith.
"If we didn't have sponsors, we probably wouldn't curl," Galusha said, referring to the exorbitant expense of flying up North.
Luckily, one of their sponsors is Canadian North Airlines, which provides some free passes for Barbour, whose fare would be in the $800 to $900 range per trip. The team manages to get together once or twice a month, but travelling to a major centre to curl is almost impossible. Besides a cashspiel in Whitehorse, the only other event this season for the Galusha team was the Schmirler Curling Classic in Regina last September.
"A few years ago, I'd never use travel as an excuse ... but down there teams play 100 games a year, and we play 20," Galusha said about trying to improve on her best-ever Scotties record, which was 4-7 in 2005. "We are just as good curlers as everyone there. We just don't have the games of experience under our belts."
"But our team chemistry is way up there."
The Galusha foursome has curled together in the past, but have only had the current lineup since last season. One person Galusha expects to lean heavily on is veteran third Moses (their "curling royalty,") who's played every position in nine previous appearances at the Scotties. For this Scotties trip, the skip might be leaning on Moses even a little more than usual. Galusha is 18 weeks
pregnant, and now curling for two.
"Wow, what a difference already," she said, glad to be over the nausea and tiredness of the earlier weeks, but trying to get used to a delivery that changes as the baby grows.
"One day I have no
balance, and one day I'll be fine."
The baby is bound to bring good luck, though, compared with choosing curly versus straight hair, or lining up the perfect song list for the team CD. To get pumped up on the way to the rink, team members each pick a song to play, and Galusha's preference, at least for now, is If You're Gonna Play in Texas, by Alabama.
"We'll try it for the first couple of days, and see how it goes."
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IN THE HOUSE
Yukon/Northwest Territories
Home club: Yellowknife Curling Club
Skip: Kerry Galusha, 31
Scotties appearances: 6
Third: Dawn Moses, 39
Second: Shona Barbour, 29
Lead: Heather McCagg-Nystrom, 35
Fifth: Sharon Cormier.
Coach: Fred Koe.
Last Scotties appearance: 2008, finished 1-10
