Calgary's Lisa Parent making Alberta Scotties debut as first-time skip
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There’s nothing like a tip or two from a curling legend to hype up a first-time trip to the 2023 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Lisa Parent got that chance last Wednesday after meeting Cheryl Bernard on the ice in a premium league draw at the Calgary Curling Club.
“We were able to sit down for a drink with her team afterwards,” said Parent of bending the ear of three-time Alberta queen and 2010 Olympic silver medallist Bernard. “And she was basically telling us to just enjoy our time as much as we can at the Scotties. She said it would be a great experience.”
Parent would be wise to take all the advice she can get.
After all, the Calgarian is a newbee to the Alberta Scotties scene, set to make her first appearance in the provincial women’s championship Wednesday in Wetaskiwin.
And it’s not simply just her first year in the playdown finale, curling on arena ice and competing in front of fans seated rink-side. It’s also her first year skipping a squad.
“Honestly, no one else on the team wanted to skip,” admitted Parent, who’s mostly played lead and second in her young career. “I’ve always like to be a leader. And I’m not going to lie — I’m a little bossy at times. So I think the other girls were like, ‘You seem to be the most confident in your ability to call the game, and you’re really outspoken and loud.’ And our coach had an idea of where to put us all, which helped a lot.
“But it’s scary, honestly,” continued the fresh skip, just 22 years old. “One thing that helped me a lot is that I’ve played mixed doubles for about four years now, and I played the first and the fifth rock, which helped me a lot because I had to throw some pressure shots. If I hadn’t done that before skipping, I think I would’ve quit really quickly, because it’s really difficult to throw the last rock. It’s just so much more pressure, and missing your last shot sucks.
“But I’ve learned to really love it, actually. I like the pressure now. It’s grown on me.”
Her rinkmates are also growing into the pressure, it seems.
Parent is flanked by third Sophie Brissette, who met Parent while they both worked at the Calgary Curling Club.
Brissette, 20, came to Alberta from B.C. a few years ago and joins Parent in being the super serious stone-throwers of the side.
“Yeah … I’d say our front-end is laid back,” Parent said. “They kind of keep things really light-hearted. Me and Sophie are a lot more intense during stressful situations. But it works really well. I think it’s a good balance.”
Second Kaitlyn Zeiler, a fellow Calgarian, is a 21-year-old talent who played with Parent in juniors not long ago.
And Megan Johnson, a 25-year-old friend who played second for Calgary’s Kaitlin Stubbs at the 2019 Alberta Scotties — the only one of the foursome to boast such provincial championship experience — signed on to be the lead of the foursome.
Alternate Amanda Sluchinski, 34, and coach Jack Moss round out the entry repping the CCC.
“Our coach is awesome,” Parent said of Moss, who also coached her in juniors. “He always watches our opposition games before we play them. He gives us some advice. This is what they’re better at and this is what they’re worse it, and we use that information as we go forward throughout the game. But we like to keep it really simple and just make the simple shots because we’re a new team.
“We don’t want to over-complicate things.”
That might just be the perfect approach to take heading into the Alberta Scotties.
After all, the championship, which runs through Sunday at Wetaskiwin Civic Twin Arenas, features enough hurdles for a fresh crew such as Team Parent.
Sure, the reigning champ Team Walker has disbanded, with veteran skip Laura Walker opting to invest her curling time in mixed doubles for an improved shot at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in that discipline.
But Walker’s third, Kate Hogan, and second Taylor McDonald, hooked up with 2018 Alberta queen Casey Scheidegger and sister Jessie Haughian to form a super-rink billed as the favourite for the Alberta Scotties.
Then there’s perennial contender Kelsey Rocque, of Edmonton, whose long-awaited time may finally arrive to become provincial champ.
“It’ll be really tough to play those teams, but we’re excited,” said Parent, a recent graduate of Mount Royal University’s broadcasting program. “We see it as a learning curve.
“But it’s really scary. I remember the first time I played Rocque. It was the first time I ever played junior provincials, and she seemed like this huge amazing player and it was really scary to play her. So it’s really interesting to know that we’re getting to the same level as her. And we played Scheidegger once already, and it was close — it went to the last end.”
Parent & Co. rematch Scheidegger right out of the gate Wednesday in the opening draw of the eight-team event (10 a.m.).
Then they face another Calgary crew late Wednesday in Kayla Skrlik (6:30 p.m.) — one talked up by Parent as another to look up to given Skrlik has made significant strides only a few years after debuting in the Alberta Scotties.
No matter what the scores, however, Parent intends to enjoy the experience — thanks, Cheryl — and learn from her maiden voyage in search of provincial curling glory.
“We definitely had a slow start to the year,” Parent said. “Only one of our teammates has played in women’s before. The other two girls had just aged out of juniors. So we were expecting a slow start, and we didn’t win a lot of games at the start of the season, and then slowly, we started winning a few games here and there. And then (earlier this month), we just had an amazing weekend. Everybody started playing so well.”
That was at the last-chance playdown at Edmonton’s Granite Curling Club, where they went 5-1, culminating with a 10-4 qualifying win over Edmonton’s Krysta Hilker.
“It showed me how well my team plays under pressure,” added Parent. “I saw my teammates excel under all that pressure. It was honestly amazing. So we’ll do even better at the Alberta Scotties, I hope.
“We never expected, really, to get this far,” added Parent. “But now that we’re here, it’ll be a really good opportunity to learn how all these teams have so much success. And I’m really excited for the intensity of it.”
EXTRA ENDS
How did all the rinks make their way to Wetaskiwin? Lethbridge’s Scheidegger, Spruce Grove’s Jessie Hunkin and the Garrison’s Skrlik were the respective first-, second- and third-ranked teams among Alberta squads in the World Curling Federation rankings, while Rocque — along with Sherwood Park’s Kellie Stiksma — qualified out of the December playdown. Another Calgary crew in The Glencoe’s Selena Sturmay earned its berth by having the most points of next contenders in the Alberta Curling Tour’s Excel Points Race, and Edmonton’s Gracelyn Richards — like Parent — qualified out of the last-chance playdown … The round-robin of the Alberta Scotties wraps up early Saturday, with any tiebreakers to follow. The semifinal is slated for Saturday night unless more than one tiebreaker is required to decide the Page playoff format. Then it will go early Sunday. The championship to decide the Alberta champ is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. or at 2 p.m. depending on how many tiebreakers are needed.
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