New Bothwell celebrates Scotties bronze medalist Cameron

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This article was published 13/03/2024 (472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a night of smiles inside the New Bothwell Community Club as the community gathered to mark Kate Cameron’s third Scotties medal.

Cameron, skipping a team for the first time since junior, made it to the semi-finals of the national women’s curling championship, losing to Jennifer Jones after a disastrous first end where she gave up five points.

“Unfortunately we just ran out of steam when we needed it most,” Cameron said, reflecting on the semi-final loss.

“Anytime we left an opponent a very hard shot for a multiple score, they seemed to make it against us every single time. I think we were on the other side of at least three highlight reel shots. You leave Jennifer that, more often than not she’s going make it.”

Cameron has made her home in New Bothwell, and brought teammates Meg Walter and Mackenzie Elias to share in the celebrations, signing autographs and posing for pictures with kids. It was a welcome end to the curling season for team Cameron, which has been training since June of 2023.

While that early start helped Cameron jump back into skipping easier, it’s left the team looking forward to some time off.

“They really helped me get at it a little sooner,” Cameron said of her team.

“Although it wasn’t ideal to curl all summer, and most teams don’t, and I’m not sure I want to going forward, I think it was really valuable for us to kind of gel.”

It was a spectacular run for Cameron to make the championship round at the Scotties, needing to win multiple games late in the week just to make it out of pool play. It was a task made even tougher after Walter woke up feeling sick late in the preliminary round.

The team even needed to play a game with only three players.

“Once we got through that one, it took a lot of pressure and a lot of nerves off of us,” Cameron said.

“We were just enjoying the moment. We knew we had a long way to go with our backs against the wall and we grinded it out as best as we could.”

Cameron said the experience of playing in high stakes games at the Scotties can only be good for her young team, which is hoping to make a run at Olympic qualification.

“I think if I was able to have this kind of success when I was their age, I think it would have shaped me to be a better curler than I am today,” Cameron said, noting the other elite teams and skips didn’t find success right away either.

“I think there’s stepping stones along the way, and I think we’re fortunate to be on the right track for that.”

Team Cameron will now return to “real life,” as curling is still a mostly amateur sport.