Team Strong / Steers Insurance was eliminated Sunday afternoon when they came up against Kirsten Wall for the second time this season. Team Wall also knocked them into Section C at the London World Tour event in October. Second Jen Cunningham said, “This time we played a much better game and, although the result wasn’t what we’d hoped, we are happy with the improvements in our still relatively new team.”

Lead Stephanie Korab said that, “We intend to use this experience and focus now on our efforts to win the Provincial Womens Scotties Championship at Bally Haly in January”. It is also noteworthy that Team Strong / Steers Insurance, for the second consecutive weekend, finished within the top 10 in the majority of offensive and defensive statistical categories kept by the ASHAM World Tour.

Team Strong / Steers Insurance also takes advantage of this opportunity to bring Christmas Greetings to all of our followers and supporters. Heather Strong says that, “On behalf of my Team and our wonderful Sponsors, Steers Insurance, Rodrigues Winery, Coast 101.1, ASHAM Curling Supplies, SFL (Simply for Life), and Natural Newfoundland Nutraceuticals, we wish the media, our supporters, and all curling fans a safe and happy Holiday Season and lots of exciting curling in the New Year.”

An added benefit to this trip is that Coach, Jamie Korab will be accompanying the team for the first time this year. Said Korab, "I am excited to offer whatever I can to the girls at this event, and also get to experience first-hand how they perform under World Tour pressure and demands."

Team Strong / Steers Insurance plays their first game at 8:30 am (10:00 NL Time) Friday at the Brant Curling Club against the Cathy Overton-Clapham Team from Winnipeg. Overton-Clapham was the long-time third of the Canadian Championship Team skipped by Jennifer Jones. This season Overton-Clapham has joined up with three younger curlers and they have experienced significant success together so far, landing them in 6th place on the World Curling Tour standings currently.

Heather Strong said that, “We never focus on the ranking of the teams we're about to play. Both teams have 8 rocks each, and what really matters is what we do with ours." There will no doubt be many eyes on this match up, as Strong and Overton-Clapham have gone head-to-head many times over their curling careers, and often in front of viewers of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Win or lose, the Team's second game in the 32-team $50,000 triple-knockout Bonspiel, will be 3:00 (4:30 Nfld. Time) against either Team O’Neill from Hamilton or the Guelph team skipped by Kathy Brown.

This Event is also being hosted at the Brantford Golf & Country Club and the Paris Curling Club. Third, Laura Strong said that, “It will be important for us to become comfortable with the ice quickly, as it's possible we may have different conditions depending on which club we're scheduled to go to.”

Curling fans and Team followers can link to the Event or World Tour web sites from the Schedule Page or Links Page on the updated Team Strong / Steers Insurance Web Site ( www.teamstrongnl.com ) in order to view biographical information and to follow along with scores being automatically updated.

For the Team of Heather Strong (skip), Laura Strong (third), Jen Cunningham (second), and Stephanie Korab (lead); their losses came from play against top-20 teams on the 2010 World Tour rankings; to Rachel Homan of Ottawa and twice to Amber Holland of Kronau, Saskatchewan, who qualified for the Playoff Round.

Heather Strong said, “We were pleased to get the experience of six tough games for our new lineup, doubling what we have been able to get locally so far this year; this is exactly the type of competition we need to prepare us to meet our future goals.” Third Laura Strong added that, “The experience on stadium ice was a huge reason for coming to this event, and it certainly didn’t let us down again this year”.

Said Jen Cunningham, who notched her first mainland Womens World Tour victories on the weekend, “It was great experience to play rock-for-rock in such a strong field; with four of our games going down to the last rock and two decided in an extra end”. Stephanie Korab, who played successfully on the Womens World Tour with Ontario teams before moving to Newfoundland in 2008, said that, “We’ve been learning a lot from both our wins and our losses, and there’s lots to be positive about, given that this is a new team with not a lot of games together under our belt just yet.”

Team Strong / Steers Insurance was put on the sidelines Saturday evening by Team Homan. After stealing the first two points of the game, Strong had a tap for one in the 4th end which didn’t curl and ended up tapping in a Homan stone resulting in an unfortunate steal of two and a 4-2 lead. Strong made up for that with an 8-foot angle tap to the pin against 4 Homan counters in the 5th end, and Homan had to make her hammer in the final end count for a 7-4 victory.

The remainder of the Team Strong / Steers Insurance games unfolded like this:

Game 5: A 6-5 extra end loss to Team Holland, the 2009 Olympic Trials Participant and winner of the 2008 World Curling Tour Players Championship (played at Mile One Stadium in St. John’s). Team Strong / Steers Insurance moved ahead 4-3 with the first 2 of the game in the 6th end, but Holland got 2 back in the 7th and held Strong to a tieing point in the 8th end when Holland made a very low percentage across the house double to take away a duce. Holland had to draw the button with hammer in the extra end for the win, and just made it after rubbing on Strong’s rock at the top of the 4-foot circle.

Game 4: Defeated Team Christianson from Halifax 9-5 by scoring 4 in the final end. The team skipped by Marie Christianson, that has played Junior together for several years, moved ahead 3-2 with a steal in the 4th end, but Team Strong / Steers Insurance stole back that point and a 5-3 lead in the 6th end.

Game 3: A 7-2 win by Team Strong / Steers Insurance over another Halifax team a few years out of Junior, Team Crouse. Strong took control scoring 3’s in the 2nd and 5th ends, and prevented the team skipped by Jennifer Crouse from mounting any offence.

Game 2: A 6-1 loss to Team Holland put Team Strong / Steers Insurance into Section “B”. It was Amber Holland’s turn to score 3’s (in the 1st and 6th ends) in a game that saw scoring in just 3 ends. (Strong played Holland as a 14-year old lead in Vernon, BC in 1992 when Holland won the Canadian Junior Championship; they have gone head-to-head on several occasions on the World Tour with both teams earning victories.)

Game 1: The opening encounter for Team Strong / Steers Insurance was changed (to correct a scheduling error) to Team Kelly from Fredericton, NB (a 2-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant, 2005 National Junior Champion and World Bronze Medalist). Strong was in control (5-3) until giving up 3 in the 7th end. After registering a tieing single in the 8th , Team Strong / Steers Insurance then stole the extra end, for a 7-6 victory when Kelly’s attempt to draw the 4-foot came up short.

Team Strong / Steers Insurance has just three days at home before departing for Brantford and our final World Tour event for this season”. In St. John's, the foursome plays in the RE/MAX SuperLeague at Bally Haly where they have 2 wins in their 3 games played to date.

The skips and home province/country of all 26 teams are listed on the Sobeys Slam Web Site ( http://www.sobeysslam.ca/index.htm ) which can also be accessed from the now extensively revised Team Strong / Steers Insurance Web Site which has a link to the Sobeys Slam on the Schedule Page.

The first game for Team Strong / Steers Insurance starts noon (12:30 pm in Newfoundland) at the John Brother MacDonald Stadium in New Glasgow. Team Strong / Steers Insurance has drawn the Toronto team skipped by Kirsten Wall who had a distinguished Junior career and played with Sherry Middaugh for some great runs at the Scott Tournament of Hearts Championship. Wall has 2-time Canadian University Champion Hollie Nicol at third, 2-time Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts skip and Junior World Champion, Jill Mouzar, as lead, and her second (Danielle Inglis) is an Ontario Junior Champion and was on Nicol’s Intercollegiate Teams.

This Season, Team Strong / Steers Insurance features Stephanie Korab at lead, Jen Cunningham at second, Laura Strong at third and Heather Strong at skip. Together, they have a total of 27 Womens and Junior Provincial Championships on their record.

This will be the sixth time that a team skipped by Heather Strong has participated in the Sobeys World Tour Cashspiel. Team Strong / Steers Insurance third, Laura Strong, said that, “We are looking forward to getting to play on arena ice, which is a rare opportunity for teams playing in Atlantic Canada. This is always a very well run event, and we have always appreciated the planning and organization of the local committee headed by Jim Nix.”

Skip Heather Strong added that, “We look forward to competing in the ‘Sobeys’ each November. We keep that weekend open and we always enjoy this opportunity to play against the top womens teams in the world, just before we head into the playdown season. We are confident of great ice conditions and many knowledgeable, enthusiastic fans being there to enjoy the curling. The hospitality that we have always experienced in New Glasgow has been fabulous."

Coach Jamie Korab explains that, “These teams have a wealth of Provincial, National, and World curling experience. Any team in an event of this calibre is a force to be reckoned with and must be considered a serious contender. We are using all the events on our Schedule as preparation for upcoming playdowns to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It is important to play as many highly competitive games as possible to gather as much experience as we can.” In St. John’s, the Team plays in the Bally Haly RE/MAX SuperLeague where they have a 2-1 record.

Heather Strong is also very pleased with the level of interest from the private sector in providing the essential support for the sport of curling and the Team’s competitive preparation and World Tour travel. She explained that, “Recently Simply For Life (SFL), a healthy lifestyle & fitness consultancy, has been added to our Slate of Sponsors joining Steers Insurance, Rodrigues Winery, ASHAM Curling Supplies, Coast 101.1 and Natural Newfoundland Nutraceuticals. We are very grateful to them all and feel they are a good fit for the active and healthy image of our sport and Team.”

In New Glasgow, the Team will be staying at the Country Inn (902) 928-1333. The Final is scheduled for 3:00 pm Sunday. World Tour Standings are available on the ASHAM World Curling Tour Web Site (http://www.worldcurlingtour.com/ ) which can also be accessed from the revised Team Strong / Steers Insurance Web Site ( www.teamstrongnl.com ) which has a convenient Links Page for all things curling.

This just the second time in 53 mainland events that a team skipped by Heather Strong has not earned a victory.

Heather Strong said that, “ While we are obviously disappointed with the
weekends’ overall result, we have been able to take some positives away that we will build on leading into the rest of our season.” Laura Strong agreed with her sister’s enthusiasm looking forward, stating that, “ The teams we played made a lot of good shots against us; they were at or near the peak of their game. It was a comfort that the four of us worked well together as a unit.”

Coach Jamie Korab said that, “ This Team is going to put points on the board; it is tough to do when you run into teams that are hot, and those things happen sometimes”. Team Auld lost a Flight “ C” Qualifier, and both Team Wall and Team Einarson qualified for the Final-8 Playoff Round.

The outcomes and highlights for the games played by Team Strong / Steers Insurance this weekend are:

• The Defending Event Champion Team Auld from Mississauga had an 8-1 opening game victory over Team Strong / Steers I nsurance, stealing two in the 3rd end. Losing 3-1 playing the 5th end, Strong took chances to get back into the game; however, Cathy Auld made a nice double takeout with hammer to score five. Team Auld is an accomplished competitive team; she threw last rocks for Alison Goring in 2009 when she led her team to second place in the Ontario Scotties. Her current third has represented Nova Scotia at the Scott Tournament of Hearts, her second has represented Ontario in the National Mixed, and her lead went to the Scott with Goring in 1997.
• In game two, the Kirsten Wall Team from Toronto knocked Team Strong / Steers Insurance from Section B. Wall also stole two in the 3rd end in a game that saw singles exchanged until the decisive 7th when Wall scored three for a 7-3 victory. Wall, who had a distinguished Junior career, has Canadian University Champion Hollie Nicol at third and 2-time Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts skip and 2004 Canadian Junior Champion skip, Jill Mouzar, as lead.
• Team Strong / Steers I nsurance was eliminated from Section C by a 4-3 loss to the Kerri Einarson Team from Winnipeg. Einarson, the current Manitoba Mixed Champion who has an experienced cashspiel team, stole a single in the 3rd end and scored 2 in the 5th in a well-played match.

In St. John's, Team Strong / Steers Insurance plays every Tuesday in RE/MAX Superleague Curling at the Bally Haly Golf and Curling Club. Their next World Tour competition for the Team of Heather Strong, skip; Laura Strong, third; Jen Cunningham, second; and Stephanie Korab, lead will be the Bally Haly Mens Cashspiel next weekend.

Now playing as Team Strong / Steers Insurance, but also Sponsored by
Rodrigues Winery, ASHAM Curling Supplies, and Coast 101.1, their first game in the 14th Annual Southwestern Ontario Charity Cashspiel - SWOCC (see the Event Web Site http://sowcc.isp.ca/current/default.htm ) starts 9:30 am Friday at the St. Thomas Curling Club; the Team’s first game of the season. They face off in the 24-team $32,000 triple-knockout with 8-team playoff Bonspiel against Team Auld from the Mississauga Golf and Country Club.

Skip Cathy Auld is highly experienced on the World Tour and they won this Event in 2009. Auld threw last rocks for Alison Goring in 2009 when she led her team to second place in the Ontario Scotties. Auld’s current third has represented Nova Scotia at the Scott Tournament of Hearts, her second has represented Ontario in the National Mixed, and her lead went to the Scott with Goring in 1997.

Heather Strong, a 9-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts competitor, has Laura Strong playing third, Jen Cunningham at second, and Stephanie Korab as lead. Strong said that, “Our goal for all World Tour events is to at least qualify for one of the 8 playoff spots”. The 8 qualifiers will play a single elimination starting Sunday evening. Stephanie Korab, who did most of her curling in Ontario (competed 3 times at the National Junior; twice earning All-Star Lead) and knows these teams well, added, “We
will need to get off to a good start to make the playoff round because this Event is so deep in talented teams”.

All teams entered are listed below; among the premier elite teams, in addition to Team Auld, are those skipped by:

• Mary-Anne Arsenault of Halifax, a 5-time Canadian Champion and 2-time World Champion on Colleen Jones Teams, who skipped Nova Scotia at the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
• Sherry Middaugh from Coldwater, Ontario; the 3-time (2001, 2004, & 2006) SWOCC Champion, 3-time Olympic Trials skip, and 3-time Scott Tournament of Hearts bronze medalist who has had a distinguished curling history in Saskatchewan as well as in Ontario. This Season, she has accomplished skip, Jo-Ann Rizzo as third.
• Alison Goring from Toronto, Ontario; the 1990 Scott Tournament of Hearts winner and 1984 National Junior Champion with accomplished skip, Cheryl McPherson throwing last rocks.
• Marie-France Larouche from Levis, Quebec; who has played many exciting games with Heather Strong in the National Junior, on the World Tour, and at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
• Janet McGhee from Uxbridge, Ontario; who was third for Sherry Middaugh for a lot of World Tour and Skins Game experience and in the 2001 Scott Tournament of Hearts. She was a Finalist in this Event in 2004.
• Carrie Lindner team from Bradford, Ontario, which has National Junior participation on their resume as well as a great deal of World Tour and Cashspiel success.
• Kathy O’Rourke from Charlottetown; their very talented Team with Geri-Lynn Ramsay throwing last rocks lost the Final of the 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts to Jennifer Jones.
• Rachel Homan from Ottawa, the current Canadian Junior Champion and 2-time Ontario Curling Tour Champions are also a 2-time winner of the SWOCC. They are coached by Earl Morris, the only curler to represent three provinces at the Brier and Father of 2-time World Junior Champion, Brier Champion, World Champion, and Current Olympic Gold Medalist, John Morris.
• Cecilia Ostlund from the Karlstads CK Club in Sweden, one of the highly competitive teams from that European powerhouse of curling talent; her third for this Event is Cathy Overton-Clapham, the current Canadian Champion third.
• Melissa Adams, from Fredericton, New Brunswick, who won the 1998 Canadian and World Junior Championships and has Sandy Comeau (who skipped in the 2005 Scott at Mile One Stadium) at third.
• Kirsten Wall from Toronto who has Canadian University Champion Hollie Nicol at third and 2-time Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts skip, Jill Mouzar, as lead.
• Kerri (Flett) Einarson from Winnipeg is the current Manitoba Mixed Champion and has an experienced cashspiel team.
• Anna Sloan from Lockerbie, Scotland; a very talented junior team.

Team Strong / Steers Insurance Coach, Jamie Korab, said that, “Even though this will be the first bonspiel with their new line-up, the girls are very capable of making it to Monday in this Event”. Second Jen Cunningham, the current Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Champion, commented, “We are really looking forward to finally implementing the off-ice training we’ve worked on throughout the summer.”

A great feature of this event is the charitable component. The SWOCC has raised well into six figures in aid of breast cancer causes; approximately $20,000 a year”. Which has a strong appeal to Heather Strong, who heads the Terry Fox Foundation in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Team Strong/ Steers Insurance may play at four local clubs during this event; the Highland, London, Ilderton, and St. Thomas Clubs. Their second game will be at 1:30 pm Friday; against Team Wall or Team Lindner.

On behalf of her new-look team of Stephanie Korab, lead; Jen Cunningham, second; and Laura Strong, third; Heather Strong said that, “ The additional financial backing provided by Steers Insurance has enabled our move to step up competition in hopes of achieving unprecedented success on the ice. We welcome Jeff Sharpe and Steers Insurance into our corner; we are exceedingly grateful to them and other Major and Key Sponsors such as Rodrigues Winery, Harvey’s Home Heating, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Kent Building Supplies, Natural Newfoundland Nutraceuticals, and a couple dozen Friends-of-the-Team.”

Gold Medal Olympian, Jamie Korab (Torino 2006), said that “ Our Men’ s Team required multi-company Sponsorships, such as now provided by Steers Insurance and Rodrigues Winery, in order to succeed. It will be fun to help Team Strong / Steers Insurance grow over the exciting Season that has been mapped out.”

The Team’ s Schedule (could change if dates change or due to qualification processes) has been chosen to seek out elite competition that will keep them in the curling spotlight throughout the 2010-11 World Tour Season:

• Southwestern Ontario Women’ s Charity Cashspiel in London October 15 to 18; a $32,000 purse 24-team triple knockout with playoff event (Canada Cup Qualifier);
• Bally Haly (Men’ s) Cash Spiel in St. John’ s October 28 to 31;
• Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford, Ontario, November 18 to 22; a $50,000 purse 32-team triple knockout with playoff event.
• Sobeys (Grand Slam) Curling Classic in New Glasgow November 25 to 29; one of the most exciting events in Canada this season; a $60,000 purse 24-team triple knockout with playoff.
• Newfoundland & Labrador Scotties Provincial at Bally Haly January 19 to 23.
• Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Charlottetown, PEI, February 19 to 27.
• Capital One Women’ s World Championship in Esbjerg, Denmark March 19 to 27.

Links to each event will be placed on the Team Strong / Steers Insurance Web Site and Facebook Page. As well, there will be Team Press Releases issued before and after each of the out-of-province World Tour Events.

Heather Strong explained that, “Consistent exposure to other elite teams is essential for our continued development. We’ re looking to sharpen the Team’ s skills with a view to returning to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Charlottetown.”

Heather Strong said that, “ Laura and I are very pleased to welcome these two talented young curlers to Team Rodrigues Winery.

Jen Cunningham said that her immediate goal is to, “ Follow Heather (1998) and Laura (2001) as the only NL curlers to go from Junior eligibility directly to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts” .

Stephanie Leachman, who has experienced much curling success in Ontario, moved to St. John’ s last summer. She works as a Senior Media Consultant for Coast 101.1 radio station and played in Major League at the RE/MAX Centre this year. Leachman says that, “ This is a tremendous opportunity and I know I can contribute good things to Team Rodrigues Winery; the World Tour and Scotties play is where I really want to be in this sport.” Leachman explains that she, “ Has known Heather and Laura since 1998 from World Tour play, the National Junior, and (CCA’ s Program) La Releve” .

Leachman represented Ontario in the National Junior’ s in 1999, 2000 and 2002 with Oakville’ s Julie Reddick at Skip. They have been regulars on the World Curling Tour, curled a season with veteran Jo-Anne Rizzo, and were ranked #19 in the world by the 2007-08 Edition of The Black Book of Curling. They were Canada’ s representative in the Karuizawa International Bonspiel in 2007 which they won with an 8-1 record.

Jen Cunningham was skip of the NL Team in the last Canada Winter Games (Whitehorse in 2007) where they were 2-3. This Fall, Cunningham’s Junior Team was a first-time SuperLeague competitor at the RE/MAX Centre. While that was a good learning experience, because of their many close games, her team made the semi-final in both the Oak
Island Junior Cashspiel in Nova Scotia and the Bally Haly Mens Cashspiel. Cunningham’ s other experience has come from Provincial Junior and 17 & Under playoffs and exposure to CCA coaches at curling camps.

Of Jen’ s Mother, acclaimed curler and former teammate of the Strongs, Cathy Cunningham, and Peg Goss, who both retired last month, Heather Strong said that, “ we cherish our friendship and memories made curling together and are now shifting focus to this new look team with enormous potential and enthusiasm!”