There are no PEI curlers in the “Women of Curling” calendar this year, but several curlers who participated in national curling championships on the Island last curling season are there. Two-time Paralympic wheelchair curling champion Sonja Gaudet of Vernon BC, who was a featured speaker during the opening banquet of the national The Dominion Curling Club Championship held last November in Charlottetown and Cornwall is one of 12 female curling athletes featured in the calendar.
PEICurling.com photo: Sonja Gaudet
Each athlete model designed her own image, found her own volunteer photographer, and is raising money for the “Shoot For A Cure” campaign of the Canadian and American Spinal Research Organizations, which aim to find the ultimate cure for spinal paralysis.
The cause is, to no surprise, close to Gaudet’s heart. “I was really surprised to get the phone call,” said Gaudet, a 2006 and 2010 Paralympic gold medal winner.
“When I heard the details, such as self-control of all images and the CSRO charity, I knew I wanted to participate.”
Other curlers in the calendar include Kaitlyn Lawes from the Jennifer Jones rink, Emma Miskew from Rachel Homan’s Ottawa team, and Heather Smith-Dacey from Halifax, all of whom were on PEI last winter curling in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Charlottetown. Jill Mouzar, formerly of Liverpool and Halifax NS and now living in Toronto, is also in the calendar.
Four-time world junior champion, world women’s silver medallist, and Olympian Eve Muirhead from Scotland is on the cover.
The glossy wall calendar, which begins shipping in November, features three photographs of each athlete model and also includes monthly curling event listings, colour-coded by gender and competition, making this a true “curling calendar”.
The calendar costs $29.95, including shipping and handling.
To order, visit womenofcurlingcalendar.com
Each of the athlete models as well as Canada’s 1,000 curling facilities can access the product at a discounted rate, making the calendar a fundraising tool within their local communities.
The 2012 Women of Curling are:
Eve Muirhead – Blair Atholl, Scotland
Cissi Ostlund – Karlstad, Sweden
Ekaterina Galkina – Moscow, Russia
Regan Mizuno – San Francisco, United States
Shannon Aleksic – Abbotsford, BC
Sonja Gaudet – Vernon, BC
Kalynn Park – Edmonton, AB
Kaitlyn Lawes – Winnipeg, MB
Laura Crocker – Kitchener-Waterloo, ON
Emma Miskew – Ottawa, ON
Jill Mouzar – Toronto, ON
Heather Smith-Dacey – Halifax, NS