Grande Prairie coach reflects on time in Calgary curling bubble

“If ever there was a big gap in time, they were asking questions about where you could have been. You could not even walk across the street to the Starbucks or McDonald’s. All your food had to be delivered to you or (there was) room service at the hotel.

“You could be in the hotel, in the arena, or in your car in between.”

Sonnenberg believes Curling Canada and the World Curling Federation pulled off “a great feat” in having safe events inside the bubble.

She also thinks there were some advantages to the bubble restrictions.

“Normally, as a coach, you’re behind the bench with your opponent’s coaching staff. But, because of COVID, they had us split so one team was at the home end and one was behind the scoreboard at the other end,” she said.

“It actually allowed us to have better conversations because you weren’t worried about being overheard by your opponent’s coaching staff.”

One draw had to be postponed after some positive tests among broadcasters covering the World Women’s. Sonnenberg says the athletes and broadcasters were in different colour-coded zones, so had very little interaction.

Sonnenberg and Peace Region product Heather Nedohin were both part of the Team Canada coaching contingent, which she really enjoyed.

“Heather and I competed against each other for years, but in this role, to get working together, to try to get this Team Canada through to the playoffs, we worked really well together and it’s funny, we often said post-game in preparing for a debrief how much we thought alike.”

Team Canada was 1-5 at one point in Calgary before rallying to grab a playoff spot and secure a berth for Canada in the women’s draw at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Sonnenberg says the team started trying harder than they needed to after losing a couple of games in which they played well enough to win.

She says focusing on the things they had been doing well led to a bunch of wins.

“Fortunately, the right people faced the right people at the end, and we were able to make it into the top six. Then, unfortunately, in that first playoff game, they played a great team in Anna Hasselborg (of Sweden) and got down a little bit early and just couldn’t battle back,” Sonnenberg said.

“So, disappointed yes that they weren’t on the podium, but extremely thrilled because it’s not very often you can battle back from the start they had.”

Einarson and Brad Gushue will now represent Canada at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Sonnenberg says by the end of the World Women’s, Einarson, was playing really well.

“She was starting to get a little bit of her confidence and fearlessness back and Brad is just Steady Eddie, (and) will make a ton of shots,” she said.

“They were really looking forward to going in relaxed together and just enjoying the experience like they did at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship. I think they’re going to do really, really well. They’re two all-star players and both have a lot of smarts.”

Canada’s first game will be against Spain May 17 at 10:30 a.m. Alberta time.

by Curtis Galbraith

Grande Prairie coach reflects on time in Calgary curling bubble

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