Legacy on the minds of Team Homan on eve of world championships

March 14, 2025

By Isabella Disley

Rachel Homan (left) and Emma Miskew celebrated the second world titles of their careers at the Mar. 16-24 championships in Sydney, N.S. Photo: Curling Canada / Facebook

On the heels of a historic performance at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Rachel Homan Ottawa Curling Club rink is eager to leave their mark when they represent Canada at the Mar. 15-21 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

Even though they recorded multiple first-time feats at last month’s Scotties, when Team Homan thinks about their legacy, it’s less about winning and more about inspiring the next generation.

“Some of my best friends have come out of (curling),” second Emma Miskew said in a virtual media availability hosted by Curling Canada. “(We’d like) young girls to know that you can find not only a really cool sport to play, but also (find) some of our closest friends and meet lots of great people.”

Miskew and Homan have played together since they threw their first rocks as juniors, while Tracy Fleury and Sarah Wilkes are nearing the end of their third season together.

“This is one of the most gender-even sports in probably a long time coming, dating back all the way to when the Scotties really gained its significance over 40 years ago with the partnership,” ​​Curling Canada’s manager of communications and media relations Kyle Jahns noted on the call. “A lot of equal prize money, a lot of equal TV time, and it’s something that obviously we’re proud of.”

Team Homan has set a new standard of excellence in recent seasons. The reigning world champions are ranked first on the World Curling Tour, they’ve won a record 17 Grand Slam titles, and they again went through the Scotties undefeated for a second time in February.

“The more experience we get playing together, the stronger we get. We are all really comfortable with one another now and comfortable in our roles,” signalled third Tracy Fleury. “Last season was unbelievable, and I think heading into this season, we tried to prepare ourselves. We came out strong again this year and we’re winning a lot of games but still trying to find ways to raise the bar even more.”

Lead Sarah Wilkes emphasized that improving individually will go a long way for the team overall and “that’s a huge part of our success and what keeps us moving forward.”

Team Homan’s last appearance at a major championship in South Korea was their debut Winter Olympics in 2018, when they went 4-5 to miss the playoffs by one win. That came a year after their first world title in 2017 in Beijing.

“At least we know what to expect,” Miskew indicated. “We’ll be ready for it, and I think the biggest thing is to try to get on the time zone as quickly as we can and we’ll be ready to go.”

(From left) Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes were the 2024 women’s curling world champions. Photo: Michael Burns / Curling Canada

Last year, Team Homan won their first world title on home ice in Sydney, N.S.

“A little bit of added challenge with 20 hours of travel before the lead-up to the events,” Homan noted. “We’ve been overseas quite a bit, so we know the jetlag and all that, trying to get in the right time zone feeling ready for our games.”

Another difference between last year’s win is they’ll have fewer Canadian fans cheering them on live on the other side of the planet.

“Quite a bit less friends and family here in person, but we’ve done it before and we’ll be able to hear Canada from overseas,” Homan added.

Miskew said her family will be watching all the games, regardless of the start time back in Ottawa.

“I feel that support, whether we’re in Canada or not,” she echoed. “We know they’re watching.”

It will be a busy tournament with Team Canada playing multiple two-game days. They kick off the tournament with games versus Lithuania at 1 a.m. EST and Scotland at 6 a.m. EST on Mar. 15.

Team Canada’s full tournament schedule (in EST time):
Mar. 15 vs Lithuania (1 a.m.)
Mar. 15 vs Scotland (6 a.m.)
Mar. 16 versus Sweden (1 a.m.)
Mar. 17 versus Denmark (1 a.m.) and the USA (8 p.m.)
Mar. 18 versus Turkey (6 a.m.) and Korea (8 p.m.)
Mar. 19 versus Norway (6 a.m.) and Switzerland (8 a.m.)
Mar. 20 versus Japan (6 a.m.)
Mar. 21 versus Italy (1 a.m.) and China (6 a.m.)