HIGH ACHIEVERS: Nunavut skip Julia Weagle preparing for her first Scotties, may face sister

By Martin Cleary

There was a time when Ottawa’s Julia Weagle thought the pieces of her curling puzzle would snap together some day and she would represent Ontario at the Scotties, the Canadian women’s curling championship.

But as the clock ticked and ticked and ticked some more, the puzzle was never completed and Weagle, 36, moved on from that possibility. But she never left curling, which has been a part of her life for 30 years.

“It was a dream for a long time,” Weagle explained. “When I lived in Toronto, I was playing more competitive curling. But I had kind of come to the decision to step back and focus on my career. Then, this came up.”

Out of the blue one day last winter, she was presented with an opportunity to pursue her first Scotties championship appearance. It wouldn’t be with Ontario or one of the other prominent curling provinces, but rather with a territory, Nunavut.

Weagle, who is approaching her fifth-year anniversary as manager guest services at TD Place with OSEG, needed time to think about this offer to see how it would impact her life.

When she gave it the thumbs up, Weagle joined Iqaluit Curling Club members Sadie Pinksen (vice, third), Leigh Gustafson (second) and Alison Taylor (lead) as the skip for the team.

Earlier this month, Weagle took a three-hour flight to Iqaluit from Ottawa to meet her teammates for a third time and register for the Nunavut women’s curling playdowns. Since the Weagle rink was the only team to register, it was declared the winner and Nunavut’s representative for the 2025 Scotties.

“It’s exciting. It’s a little overwhelming,” Weagle admitted in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“I’ve been (to the Scotties) as a spectator to watch my sister (Lisa), but it’s going to be different when you’re competing. It’s cool. I didn’t think it was in the cards to be able to go back and compete. This is a huge opportunity.”

And she’ll also get to experience her first Scotties in Thunder Bay’s Fort William Arena Feb. 14-23 along with sister Lisa, who is heading for her ninth Canadian women’s championship, but with her third different province.

Curling Canada said Tuesday this will be the fifth time since the Tournament of Hearts era started in 1982 that sisters will play against each other at the Scotties. (See note at the bottom of the story for more details.)

On the weekend, Lisa Weagle played lead for Laurie St-Georges’ rink, which went undefeated in five round-robin matches and the championship final to win the Quebec women’s title. The St-Georges rink also includes Jamie Sinclair of Osgoode, ON, and Emily Riley.

Weagle competed in her first six Scotties during a 10-year run with Rachel Homan’s Ottawa Curling Club rink, winning national titles in 2013, 2014 and 2017 as well as three world championship medals – gold in 2017, silver in 2014 and bronze in 2013.

Representing Manitoba at the 2021 and 2022 Scotties, the two-time Olympian played on the Jennifer Jones rink before it was dismantled. Weagle joined the St-Georges team for the 2024-25 season.

Julia said she has received advice about playing at the Scotties from Lisa, but she also has learned a lot by watching.

“She has given me a bit of advice, but she just qualified over the weekend with Quebec so I’m not sure how much more advice she’ll give me,” Julia said with tongue in cheek.

“I’ve seen how she prepares and I have some second-hand knowledge. She has been great and is a huge supporter.”

Whether Julia and Lisa will face each other in the round-robin portion of the Scotties won’t be known until Curling Canada releases the provincial and territorial teams for each pool and the schedule.

While this will be Julia’s first Scotties, her teammates are well aware of what the nationals are all about. Pinksen has appeared in four Scotties for Nunavut (2020-23) and served as an alternate three times (2016, 2017, 2019). Taylor represented her territory in 2023 and 2021, while Gustafson was the Nunavut alternate in 2023, playing the first five ends in Draw 15 and the last three ends in Draw 18.

Towards the end of the 2023-24 season, Pinksen, Taylor and Gustafson were looking for a fourth player for the team. Jack Gustafson, the father of Leigh, was talking to Ted Weagle, the father of Julia, one day last winter at an Ottawa curling club about the opening on the women’s team.

Julia was mentioned as a possible fourth player on the team, but it was too late in the season to assemble a Nunavut representative because there was no ice at the Iqaluit Curling Club at the time as well as some other factors.

But during the spring and summer, Julia met her three future teammates several times through virtual meetings to understand what it would be like to curl for a team in Iqaluit and possibly represent Nunavut at the Scotties.

In mid-October, Pinksen, Gustafson and Taylor flew to Ottawa to meet Weagle and then travelled to Stroud, ON, for their only competition of the season. At the Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel, the Weagle rink posted one win against three losses.

In early November, Weagle headed north to have practice sessions with her teammates, a few games and stage U18, high-performance and learn-to-curl clinics.

The volunteer-run and city-owned Iqaluit Curling Club has four sheets of ice in the community of about 7,500 and is one of three in Nunavut along with the Qavik Curling Club in Rankin Inlet and the Ovayok Curling Club in Cambridge Bay.

Weagle made a second trip to Iqaluit about 10 days ago for more team practices and the Nunavut playdowns. The Weagle rink was the only women’s team to enter and declared the Nunavut representative for the Scotties.

While many of the top teams will be looking to post multiple wins, reach the playoffs and strive for the national title, Weagle is taking a different approach. Her team will be pushing for as many wins as possible – Nunavut was 0-8 at both the 2023 and 2022 Scotties – but there also is another important theme.

“It has been great,” Weagle said about being on the team. “What appeals to me is the focus more on growing the sport (in Nunavut). Getting national representation is huge for awareness and funding.

“We’re growing the sport from the grassroots, getting more people involved. It can be seen already. The community is excited. The league night is picking up and people are coming back. It’s definitely a developing sport.”

Canadian Bank Note is the title sponsor for the Weagle rink. It also is supported by Little Ray’s Exhibitions, The Northern Shopper, Canadian North, NWC Motorsports and Hardline Curling.

The Weagle team will assemble in Ottawa on Feb. 10 for two days of practice on local ice before flying to Thunder Bay on Feb. 12 for the Canadian women’s championship.

SISTER VERSUS SISTER AT THE SCOTTIES

1997 — Marilyn Bodogh skipped Team Canada and her sister Christine Jurgenson played lead for Team British Columbia.

1998 — Joan McCusker played second for Team Canada; her sisters Cathy Trowell (skip) and Nancy Inglis (alternate) played for Team Saskatchewan.

2005 — Colleen Jones skipped Team Canada; her sister Monica Moriarty played lead for Team Nova Scotia.

2014 – Alison Kreviazuk played second for Team Canada; her sister Lynn Kreviazuk played second for Team Ontario.