Lawton’s Olympic dream continues with Team Rocque

Stefanie Lawton is pulling double duty this week.

The 41-year-old curler from Saskatoon was long known as Saskatchewan’s best chance at winning a Scotties Tournament of Hearts for a 10-year period as skip of her own rink.

Then she joined forces with Robyn Silvernagle’s rink in 2019 and 2020 before deciding to take a step back from competitive curling.

Her Olympic dream isn’t dead yet, not since she got a call last week to be Alberta-based Kelsey Rocque’s alternate for the Tim Hortons Curling Trials at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

“It was a little bit out of the blue,” Lawton said.

She can thank old friend and longtime competitor Beth Iskew for the opportunity.

Iskew has been coaching Rocque’s team since October and she put Lawton’s name forward when the team began its search for a fifth during the Trials.

“I was a bit surprised, but I got goosebumps thinking (and) talking to Beth about it,” Lawton said, realizing a chance to go to the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Wanting to be there and working towards it, it all came rushing back when Beth started talking about it.”

Lawton, like the rest of the athletes in Saskatoon, is limited to her hotel room and the arena for a majority of the nine-day competition as Curling Canada simulates Olympic-like conditions.

With not much notice before participating in the tournament, Lawton is balancing her accounting duties with Cameco during the day as she follows her team along and stays prepared should she be needed.

On Monday, Team Walker alternate Erin Pincott was promoted to spot duty because of an illness on the team, so Lawton seeing some time on the ice isn’t out of possibility.

Another balance is her responsibilities as a mother of a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old.

It’s the reason she withdrew from the competitive grind compared to her first trials experience 16 years ago.

“You work at your career, you have your significant other, but it’s different when kids come along,” she said. “They’re starting to really get into their sports. You want to see them succeed as well. There’s different priorities that come into play there.

“It’s definitely challenging to figure out what you want to work towards and where everything fits in.”

Even though she hasn’t been on the ice yet, Lawton has managed to convince a few fans to switch allegiances to Team Rocque knowing there’s some homegrown talent on the team.

“We’ve already gained a few fans and some family and friends will be cheering them on for sure,” Lawton said.

Never knowing when an opportunity like this could pop up again, Lawton refuses to call this her last chance at becoming an Olympian.

“I never really considered that. I don’t think you can ever say it’s your last chance,” she said. “You never know where you might be in the next round.”

Team Rocque is back at the Olympic curling trials for Draw 9 on Tuesday at 7 p.m.