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For a third year in a row, female curling athletes are showing pride in their sport, and support for charity, in the Women of Curling Calendar.
12 athletes-turned-models from seven countries have developed and produced their own images for the 2013 edition of the calendar, which promotes the positive image of curling’s female athletes while raising proceeds for the Canadian Spinal Research Organization’s “Shoot For A Cure” campaign.
The calendars, which begin shipping in November, are on sale now at womenofcurlingcalendar.com for CDN $29.95. In addition, the athlete models will be selling the product in person at a substantial discount, with additional revenues going to a charitable cause of their choice.
That discounted sales price is also available to curling facilities that wish to use the calendar as a fundraising tool.
Edmonton’s Jessica Mair, who won bronze for Canada in 2012 with Team Heather Nedohin, says she was “pumped” to participate in the 2013 Women of Curling Calendar.
“I thought it would be a really fun experience to get all dolled up and have my picture taken,” said the 27-year-old Canadian champion. “I am not camera-shy.”
After planning her photo session, Mair recruited a friend, Oksana Steinborn, to shoot the outdoor images.
“It was a fun afternoon,” said Mair. “She did really great work and the results are awesome. Her boyfriend acted as her assistant, and she even wrangled my boyfriend into helping out.”
The other Canadian athlete models are two-time national university champion Sara Wilkes of Edmonton (by way of Toronto and Kitchener, Ont.), 2012 Newfoundland and Labrador champion Jennifer Cunningham of St. John’s, two-time New Brunswick club champion Shannon Tatlock of Moncton, 2011 Ontario champion Lisa Weagle of Ottawa, recreational curler Priya Shah of Toronto and 2011 Canadian champion and world silver medallist Kim Schneider of Kronau, Sask.
The international athlete models are Russian national team skip Anna Sidorova (main cover photo), 2010 world champion Sara Carlsson of Sweden, 2011 European champion Anna Sloan of Scotland, Hungarian national team skip Ildiko Szekeres and 2006 U.S. Olympic women’s skip Cassie Potter.
“It’s all for a great cause,” said Mair. “Some incredible women have been a part of this project, and I’m so happy to be involved this year.”
Each athlete is represented with three images, and each month also includes curling event listings from around the world, colour-coded according to the type of tournament.
Shoot For A Cure, which is also supported by the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), is the official sport-focussed fundraising and awareness campaign of CSRO. The charity is committed to finding a cure for spinal paralysis, and also seeks to increase awareness of the Paralympic sport of Wheelchair Curling.
One of the 2012 Women of Curling Calendar athlete models, Sonja Gaudet of Vernon, Canada, is a two-time Paralympic gold medallist (2006 and 2010) in wheelchair curling