Robyn Silvernagle wins 2023 provincial Scotties

Team Robyn Silvernagle from North Battleford, Sask. will be making their third appearance as Team Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts next month.

Silvernagle defeated Team Nancy Martin 8-4 in Sunday’s provincial finals at Affinity Place in Estevan, Sask.

“It’s special, I mean, the first one is definitely special because you’re like, ‘I’ve finally made it, I have to do this one thing,’ but this one is pretty special, too,” Silvernagle said.

Skipping and leading Kara Thevenot was part of Team Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2019 and 2020, but it will mark the first time Saskatchewan has played on the national stage for second Sherry Just and third Kelly Schafer in 2023.

Schafer has now put her name in the record books as she is the first female curler to compete for a national title with two countries, Scotland and Canada.

“I’m pretty proud to have won my first provincial mixed Robyn Silvernagle wins 2023 provincial Scotties because it was the first time that I was able to play something here. I felt really privileged to come to another country and win something else or represent a province. Now that it’s the women’s, I’m pretty proud,” said Schafer.

It has not been an easy journey for Silvernagle to get to this point. Their 16-month-old child, Kolt, has had health problems for the past year. Make the victory on Sunday more emotional.

“[We] spent almost a year in the hospital since birth. He’s had eight surgeries and he’s going to need more,” Silvernagle said. “There were definitely moments where he shouldn’t have made it, so we’re very happy he’s here with us. I’ve always been jealous of all the hair curlers their kids can have here, so what happened [tonight] is pretty decent.”

Silvernagle had retired from curling given her family circumstances, but in November decided she wanted to go for another run at the provincial championship and began fielding a team.

“Robyn called and said, ‘Do you want to run for provincial?’ And I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s have a blast!’” said Schafer.

“We’re all here for the same reason. We didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We just wanted to go out and play and get some recordings and have fun. We’re all experienced curlers, so you can lump it all together,” said Silvernagle.

Her team qualified for a spot in the provincials at the Last Chance Tournament earlier this month.

The top 12 teams from across the province have been competing in the 2022-23 Viterra Scotties Provincial Championship since last Wednesday.

Martin had booked a ticket for Saturday’s championship draw but had to wait and see if they would face Silvernagle or Sherry Anderson’s rink. Anderson conceded against Silvernagle (12-7) in the semifinals on Sunday morning.

Silvernagle lost (9-8) and conceded (9-2) in their previous two draws against Martin en route to Sunday’s final.

“They definitely passed us yesterday and we took a few breaks today. We played much better today. I would say that was the best game we’ve played together as a team, so we timed it right,” said Silvernagle.

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts takes place February 17-26 in Kamloops, BC

The curling isn’t over in Estevan as the SaskTel Tankard will take over from February 1st to 5th.