By William Murray

For Law’s rink,‘Be prepared’ is more than a slogan

The pun was truly unintended but right on the money when Julie Skinner — the third on Kelley Law’s Canadian Olympic curling squad — described the key to her team’s success heading into the Salt Lake Games.

“OUR MOTTO IS, ‘No stone unturned,’” she told the Canadian Press. “It has been hard, but it has obviously paid off.”
At the hotly contested Canadian Olympic Trials, the team adhered to a meticulously pre-planned schedule and rolled to an Olympic berth. When the team ate, when it slept, when it got to the rink, when it held meetings, the timetable was all there in black and white.

Members of the rink also huddled several times a day with sports psychologist David Cox, kept journals, watched their diets with the help of nutritionists, and used personal trainers to hone their physiques.

“We never stop learning or paying attention to detail,” Law says. “We are holding training camps on the weekends (in January to get ready for the Olympic Winter Games), constantly working with our coach (Gene Friesen), playing against the men in Newfoundland and holding a weekend competition against four of the better women’s teams in Canada.”
“We are trying hard to keep our intensity up and keep ourselves sharp.”

MORE FOCUS
Such intense focus was not always a characteristic of the team. It came about in the dark hours following the team’s defeat at the hands of Colleen Jones and her rink in the finals of the 2001 nationals.
“We’ve really paid attention to everything we’ve done since then,” Law says. “We wanted to know exactly what went wrong.”
Law and her teammates also have learned how to handle the pressure of being Canadians at a curling event. If ever a sport had its DNA stamped upon a nation, it is curling with Canada.
“We feel comfortable in our own skin,” Law says. “We have the best curlers in the world here. To get out of Canada wearing the Maple Leaf, whether it’s a World Championships or an Olympics, means you have to be experienced and confident.”

VETERAN RINK
This will not be the first time Law and her teammates have walked onto a rink at an international event representing Canada. Despite being together for just a year, the team won the 2000 nationals and went on to claim the world title.
Amid the successful run, Law formulated her “baby steps” strategy.
“You have to take baby steps and keep your focus on the task at hand,” Law says. “You just have to keep everything in perspective. During a tournament, you may throw 120 stones each. So if you throw a bad stone, you have to let it go.”
Law’s experience also tells her that no team can be underestimated.

Canadian skip “When it comes to the Olympics, I look for Sweden, Norway and Switzerland — who we played in the world final — to be the teams to beat,” she says. “But even a team like Japan can come out firing. If you are the Canadian team, everyone is gunning for you. You can never take anyone lightly.”

REMEMBERING SANDRA
Law and her teammates don’t take lightly the responsibility thrust upon their shoulders to defend the 1998 gold won by the legendary Sandra Schmirler, who was known as “Schmirler the Curler.” The beloved Schmirler died of cancer in March 2000.
“Sandra was an icon for all women curlers,” Law says. “It’s just a great honor (to follow in her footsteps).”

Law and her teammates also know how their countrymen feel about them. When they boarded their plane for the trip home from Regina, Saskatchewan, and the trials, the pilot announced a welcome to his very special passengers.

“That was really cool,” Law says, “The passengers all started applauding. Everyone has been really nice to us. Our feet still are not really touching the ground.”

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