Jones takes the fifth in team addition

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/03/2020 (2038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It started with the spark of an unusual idea, something Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeg-based curling team hadn’t really seen tried before. They thought that, if it could work, it might make their team better, but at first it was hard to picture how such a plan would even come to fruition in curling’s real world.

Then that world shook loose, the stars aligned and suddenly, the Jones foursome were five.

That’s right, five. On Wednesday, in what proved a welcome distraction from the rest of the news sweeping the planet, Jones announced that former Rachel Homan lead Lisa Weagle, a three-time Scotties champ and 2018 Olympian, would join the Jones rink as an equal full-time member.

“She is such a professional,” Jones says, chatting by phone on Wednesday morning. “Her work ethic is second to none. She works so hard, she tries to master her position, she’s a great judge (of rocks) and super smart on the ice. You know that you’re going to get her very best all the time.”

In a pandemic-hastened curling off-season that has already seen some shocks — Homan dumping Weagle, Kevin Koe picking up John Morris, Chelsea Carey’s team breaking up — this news is, in a way, the most curious. There’s really no blueprint on how a five-person team should work in the upper echelon of the sport.

“I feel like we’re being a little bit innovative, and we’re trying to think outside the box,” Jones says. “We haven’t really figured it out yet. I think we would try some different scenarios for sure, and she’ll play some different events. For the most part we’ll have five people at our events, but not for all of them.”

The idea actually came to Team Jones about a week before Weagle became available. They thought a full-time fifth could help, especially as they look to the 2021 Olympic curling trials. But it wasn’t easy to see how it could work, given that elite players are mostly locked into their teams and might prefer taking every shot.

So when Weagle was cut loose last week, it was like “the stars were aligning,” Jones says. The team arranged a FaceTime call with Weagle on Sunday to explore the idea. Within minutes they’d started strategizing how the configuration could work over the next two years. It was an energetic conversation.

“We connected instantly and our goals were aligned,” Weagle told The Canadian Press.

“What struck me the most was hearing in Jen’s voice that she wants to win and she’s very determined. This is an athlete that’s won everything there is to win in curling and she still wants to do more.”

But how will it work? This is all Jones can say for sure: Weagle will be an equal member of the team alongside vice Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Dawn McEwen. She will get regular ice time through the season, though what exactly that will look like remains to be determined.

So yeah, it’s an experiment. But the fact Jones is trying it now speaks to the growing demands on high-level curlers. Seasons are longer and more jam-packed than ever. The constant travel can be draining, and with a four-person team, it’s hard to find enough time to rest and conserve energy for the most critical events.

Plus, having another pair of experienced eyes can only help. Jones didn’t bring a fifth to this year’s Scotties, with the wild-card game throwing the week into doubt. It wasn’t the end of the world — teams play events with four all the time — but it did mean not having that added support for key tasks such as matching rocks.

On that end, it’s not hard to see how having another full-time teammate could ease some of that workload. Fifths are usually recruited to help out at a single event, but there could be a lot of untapped potential in having one that’s been on the same page with the team for a whole season, building the same strategy, doing all the same training.

“She is such a professional. Her work ethic is second to none. She works so hard, she tries to master her position, she’s a great judge (of rocks) and super smart on the ice. You know that you’re going to get her very best all the time.”
– Jennifer Jones on her newest team member, Lisa Weagle

“Having five people really allows you to do a lot of different things that you can’t otherwise do,” Jones says.

“It also gives us a different perspective: she might have a different approach to something. We’re always trying to improve and be better… and this also energizes you.”

Could this be the start of a new trend in curling? Time will tell, but it’s not out of the question. In casual conversations after the Weagle news broke, several high-end players said they were at least intrigued by Jones’ approach, recognizing how it could afford more rest and possibly enhance team performance.

This much is certain, it will be interesting to watch how the Jones quintet fares, whenever there is curling again. As with everything else on Earth right now, a question mark hangs over the future. There’s no way of knowing how the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered this curling season early will affect the next one.

On that end, Jones and her family are “making the most” of things right now, she says. She and her husband Brent Laing (lead for John Epping’s Ontario curling squad) are holed up at their Ontario home, where they’re focused on keeping daughters Isabella, 7, and Skyla, 3, occupied. It feels like the longest the globe-trotting family has been home at one time, she says.

For now, file this one under something to look forward to, whenever the rocks start to roar again.

“We’re going to try and get on the ice as soon as possible,” Jones says. “Who knows when that will be? We’ll definitely get together when and if we can, as soon as it’s safe for all of Canada. Everybody’s super excited and energized.” 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca