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The Hailey Birnie rink is going to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the second year in a row. This year鈥檚 edition of the team is skip Birnie, third Chelsea Jarvis, (who played third with Birmie while going by Chelsea Duncan), second Kerry Campbell and throwing lead rocks, Kim Tuor. The alternate is Jenna Duncan, a Yukoner living in B.C.

The Star reached Birnie Tuesday. She said a Yukon play-down was originally scheduled for Jan 12-15.

鈥淛ust before Christmas, I got an email saying 鈥業t looks like nobody wants to play against you.鈥� There were no other women鈥檚 teams that were interested or able to compete this year, so we were appointed to go to the Scotties in Kamloops in February,鈥� Birnie related.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite bittersweet. We would have loved the competition. The men just played down this past weekend and it was such a great competition and the ability to have a number of games back to back throughout a few days can really help the team bond and that is a preparation step for going. And then also just the feeling that you鈥檝e earned it, because it鈥檚 a huge deal as well.鈥�

Birnie said the team went down to the King Cash Spiel in Maple Ridge, B.C. in early December and had 鈥渁 wonderful experience, aside from everybody getting sick 鈥� it was great to be with the team. It was great to have that team bonding that you can only really get when you鈥檙e in close quarters for so long.

鈥淎nd we curled really well. We ended up making the semi finals for the king cash and had a really great 鈥榮piel there.

鈥淧art of the reason why we ended up choosing it is because it鈥檚 close to where Jenna is,鈥� explained Birnie. 鈥淪o it gave Jenna a chance to come out; she ended up playing a couple of games as well. It ended up working out very well.鈥�

The Birnie rink will be busy before the Scotties kick off in Kamloops Feb. 17.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got about a month before we head off and there鈥檚 a lot to do. There are a lot of logistics and planning and obviously practicing as well. It鈥檚 been really wonderful. We鈥檝e had a number of people from the club step out and say, 鈥楬ey, if you want to have an extra game here, if you want to set this up so that we can play a few ends, a mock game or part of a game.鈥� Setups and scenarios. We鈥檝e had a ton of support from a number of different people from the club, which is really helpful, especially when we don鈥檛 have a lot in terms of bonspiels or competitions to help prepare us, so really appreciate the support that we鈥檝e had from a number of individuals and teams from the club, just kind of stepping up and saying 鈥榃e鈥檒l do that.鈥欌��

Birnie鈥檚 foursome plays Tuesdays in the Super League here in Whitehorse, which, according to Birnie, is 鈥渁rguably the most competitive league鈥�.

Birnie was asked to assess her team鈥檚 chances at the Scotties.

鈥淚 think this year is going to actually be really interesting, because we鈥檒l be competing against a lot of the same curlers that we鈥檝e competed against in previous years. And some of them are arguably the world鈥檚 best, so it鈥檚 always a little bit nerve-wracking. Throughout the Scotties experience, you鈥檙e there for a week and a half. You can鈥檛 help but become better when you鈥檙e there and when you鈥檙e playing against somebody of that calibre.

鈥淧art of what I鈥檓 gonna find really interesting though, is a lot of the same curlers are there but a lot of the teams have changed in the last year. So in the curling world after the Olympics, a lot of the teams end up doing different switches and some people retired and some people joined their biggest competitors鈥� team. So I think that鈥檒l be really interesting. We might be playing some of the same people and we鈥檒l be playing some very different teams.鈥�

Birnie said the ice is a little different for the Scotties.

鈥淭here are a few things that you can only get at a competition at that level. One of them is the ice. The ice is incredible. When you go to Scotties, it鈥檚 not on a typical curling ice. They actually do it on a hockey arena. So the makings of it are actually a little bit different. As a curler it鈥檚 beautiful to curl on. You can curl at a different level, just with the ice conditions. The rocks are more lively on arena ice. So if you鈥檙e doing a double or triple takeout, they might just move a little bit more easily rather than on traditional curling ice. So there鈥檚 like this little heightened ability to just do an extra cool shot, if you will.鈥�

Birnie has set a basic goal for the team.

鈥淲hat I would really like is for our team to go and just feel really great about themselves while they鈥檙e out on the ice. Feel like they鈥檙e given it their all. Feel like they鈥檙e showing up the best that they can while they鈥檙e there. As much as I鈥檇 love to say we would really love to beat Kerri Einarson, Rachel Homan or Jennifer Jones 鈥� which we could and we might 鈥� there鈥檚 not going to be a disappointment if we still show up and we give it our all and we play some really great games. We鈥檙e all naturally competitive anyway, so my goal is for everybody to genuinely enjoy themselves out there while being competitive.鈥�

Birnie was bestowed an honour as a result of a shot at the 2022 Scotties.

鈥淟ast year at Scotties there were some difficult shots that had to be done. And one of the team shots 鈥� I happened to be throwing it but it was definitely a team shot 鈥� ended up making the honourable mentions for best shot of the year in Canada, so that kind of stuff is fun, too. It鈥檚 kind of like 鈥極h, look. We can do that too.鈥欌��

The shot can be found about 1:25 into a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn_QtB7K2M0

Birnie added 鈥淕oing to the Scotties from the Yukon where we do have less competition up here, it鈥檚 part of the Yukon way. We like the fact that we have a smaller population; we live here for a reason.

鈥淚 think this team should be really proud of putting in the work, especially when we鈥檙e missing a few of the resources, like the competitions every weekend, like the additional women鈥檚 teams. I think this team should be really proud for still stepping up and putting in the work to the ability that we have the resources to and showing up there. I think we should be really proud.鈥�