By Mike Koreen, Toronto Sun

MOOSE JAW, SASK. – Today, it’s just a distant memory.

But at one time, Suzanne Birt did contemplate life off Prince Edward Island.

“Maybe when I was younger,” the soft-spoken P.E.I. skip at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts said when asked if she considered moving to the mainland to improve her chances at curling’s highest level. “But I have a daughter (Jesse) now who’s almost six and a husband (Trevor) and we’re kind of settled.”

There’s no sign of even a touch of jealousy or regret from the 33-year-old convenience store owner, who acknowledges the uphill battle any curler from P.E.I. faces because of location.

After winning gold at the 2001 world junior championship and bronze the following year, Birt continued her rise by finishing third in her Scotties Tournament of Hearts debut in 2003. Since then, however, it has been tougher sledding on the national stage, with the Summerside native not making the playoffs in her past six Scotties appearances.

This week, Birt is hanging tough, sitting at 4-3 entering the Wednesday night draw at Mosaic Place. Birt is playing well, sitting fifth in skip percentage behind only the four favourites — Alberta’s Val Sweeting, Team Canada’s Rachel Homan, Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton and Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones.

All of those skips have played far more on the Grand Slam circuit than Birt. In the past three years, Birt has played in one Grand Slam — the 2012 Masters in Brantford, Ont. — and hasn’t played anywhere west of Ontario in that time.

“I mean, we can’t afford it,” said Birt. “It’s a lot of time and effort and money and that’s something we don’t have in the east. We make do with what we have, go to ‘spiels locally and in the Maritimes and get in a lot of games that way.”

The two-year-old team’s regular coach, Peter Gallant, was unavailable this week because he went to Spain to watch his son, Chris, curl for Canada at the Winter Universiade last week and is playing in a senior competition this weekend. So, hours after winning the P.E.I. title, Birt asked longtime rival Kim Dolan to be her rink’s Scotties coach. Dolan’s daughter, Sinead, is the team’s alternate for the event, and saw some action Wednesday in a 10-6 win over Quebec’s Lauren Mann.

Dolan, who owns a seafood restaurant and two bars back home, believes the province can win a national title one day despite all the obstacles. So does Birt.

“If we didn’t have that mindset, I wouldn’t even want to be here,” Birt said. “You don’t want to put all this time into it and time away from our families if you didn’t think you could win at this level.”

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