Jennifer Jones started curling, and kept curling, because she loved it. The Manitoba skip never curled to be in the spotlight, but that's exactly where she's been since she and her team won the 2008 Ford World Women's Curling Championship.
Last night, after an appearance at Thrifty Foods in Broadmead, Jones went directly to the Victoria Golf Club, where she gave her entertaining and inspirational talk, Rock Steady, to a roomful of fans. The evening was one of several Jones, a corporate/commercial lawyer, has presented for her employer, Wellington West Capital Inc.
"I have to pinch myself that people care about my life and my story. It's humbling," said Jones, who has also travelled across the country visiting schools and curling clubs in her role as skip of the reigning Team Canada for the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. She especially enjoys the kids -- one youngster asked if she was riding in a limo, being a celebrity and all.
"The kids are wonderful. They wear their hearts on their sleeves. I talk to kids who don't have a lot going right for them, and can hopefully make a difference."
At times, though, it's difficult trying to juggle the regime of appearances, work, family, and team. On a normal day, Jones gets up a 5 a.m. so she can fit a trip to the gym, work, and curling practice in her day, before returning home for dinner some 12 or 13 hours later. She said she misses out on things, especially with friends, but has had to set priorities.
"There's no homemade soup at our house, it's Campbell's," she said, drawing laughs out of the crowd, who warmed to Jones's sincerity.
"I've always been the kind of person where every little thing in life, I'll be thankful for," Jones said, crediting her parents with passing on their set of values. "You have to enjoy the moment."
"What you believe, and what you go after will be the reality."
During her life, Jones said people told her she would never be a lawyer, and never be a curling champion. She proved them wrong at law school, and winning the world championship was the culmination of a 25-year dream.
It was that never-give-up attitude of Jones and her team of Cathy Overton-Clapham, Jill Officer, and Dawn Askin, that saw them through their run last season. They won eight sudden death games at the 2008 Scotties, and were down three points to Japan in the eighth end of the world semifinal, before coming back to win in a extra end. Jones could see the media area, where the reporters were writing off the Canadians, and she refused to give them that story.
"Doing my best is always within my power," she said.
Jones looked a little tired by the end of the evening last night, but, come today, the appearances and talks are over for now. Jones and her squad open play at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Saturday at 7 p.m. against Alberta. Then she will be able to focus completely on the task at hand. Once she's on the ice, she won't even notice the spotlight.
"That's my happy place -- curling."
