THUNDER BAY -- After seven years, six seasons and two trips to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team McCarville considered shaking things up.
But after surveying the Canadian curling landscape, the foursome decided they'd give it at least one more go in the hunt for that elusive national women's curling championship.
"Our team has had six incredible years together," the team posted on its official Facebook page on Friday night.
"We've share highs and lows, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. After much consideration we made the difficult decision that we needed a change. Unfortunately, with so many teams staying together, there were no free agents to pick up ... so we're sticking together."
Team McCarville is challenged by geography.
Skip Krista McCarville, lead Sarah Potts and second Ashley Sippala live in Thunder Bay, while third Kendra Lilly calls Sudbury home. It makes it difficult to practice together as a team.
The foursome has enjoyed plenty of success together over the years.
In 2016 they made the Scotties final, losing to Alberta's Chelsea Carey. They missed the playoffs at the 2017 Olympic trials, but finished third last fall in Nova Scotia, attempting to qualify for the Beijing Games. They followed that up with a run to the final at the 2022 Scotties, staged at Thunder Bay's Fort William Gardens, but came up short against two-time defending champion Kerri Einarson.
Prior to the Scotties, which was held without fans for most of the week, the 39-year-old McCarville said she planned to keep curling competitively, with an eye on a future Scotties being held in Thunder Bay, with full attendance permitted. The local organizing committee is already in talks with Curling Canada about the possibility of hosting again in 2025.
