THUNDER BAY – Krista McCarville has two jobs this week.
One, as skip of the four-time defending champion Northern Ontario team, is to win her way back to the Scotties, set for Fort William Gardens next month.
The second, and more important role, is that of Mom.
Her two worlds collided on Wednesday, when she and her team went up against Claire Dubinsky’s Northern Ontario U18 champion squad, a team that includes her daughter Bella throwing second stones.
It was tough to put her parenting role aside, the elder McCarville said, after skipping her side to a decisive 9-3 win to open the women’s competition at the 2025 Northern Ontario Curling Championships, being played at the Port Arthur Curling Centre.
But it had to be done.
“Every now and then I had to remind myself not to think about Bella making a good shot. She’s just another player out there. Obviously, I always want her to make her shots and do well for her team, but at the same time I was thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t want her to make this shot because it’s going to be a tough one for us,’” the two-time Scotties runner-up said.
“It was a pretty neat experience.”
For Bella McCarville, this week is all about gaining some valuable experience ahead of next month’s U18 nationals in Saskatoon, while hopefully stealing a few games along the way against much more seasoned competition.
She grew up rooting for her mom, but today, it was all business.
“I was cheering for them, but not, at the same time. I didn’t know what to do. But yeah, that was fun,” the 15-year-old Bella said.
The result itself? Not so great, she said.
“I knew it was going to be a good game. It was going to be tough. They’re like one of the best teams here. We played well and I’m proud of us,” Bella said.
Krista McCarville said she was glad the schedule makers got the game against Team Dubinsky out of the way. It’s one less thing to worry about as they try to defend their title against one of the top fields in recent memory.
“As soon as we were walking off I was thinking thank goodness that’s done because I don’t want to think about that. I want to cheer on the girls and wish them the best. They’re here to play as many games as they can, get a lot of experience and they played great out there. And I know if they play like that they’re going to be giving some teams a run and possibly getting a few Ws.”
McCarville, lead Sarah Potts, second Ashley Sippala and third Andrea Kelly, we locked in a tight battle with Dubinsky, tied 1-1 through three ends. McCarville picked up a deuce in the fourth and hit the break up 3-2. She added two more in the in the sixth and put the game all but out of reach with three in the eighth.
Two sheets over, newcomer Emma Artichuk showed she’ll be a force to be reckoned with this week. The Ottawa native, skipping a Sudbury-based team that includes lead Lauren Rajala, second Jamie Smith and third Megan Smith, got off to a fantastic start, rolling past Thunder Bay’s Robyn Despins 10-3 on Wednesday, jumping in front 5-1 through four ends and slamming the door shut with four in the sixth.
“It was a really strong start. Honestly, it started with a good performance in practice. We made two really good draws to the button and all week we’ve just really been focusing on taking things step-by-step. That’s our philosophy for the week – don’t look ahead, just take everything one step at a time,” Artichuk said.
Timmins skip Laura Mann skipped her team to an opening-draw win in the other afternoon match, knocking off North Bay’s Laura Johnston 11-4.
Next up for McCarville is Thunder Bay’s Ashley Palmer on Thursday morning. Despins meets Johnson and Artichuk plays Mann.