Chelsea Carey to skip Jennifer Jones's former curling team

Chelsea Carey delivers a rock during a match against New Brunswick at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. Carey announced she will be taking over as skip for Jennifer Jones' rink for the next two seasons. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)

WINNIPEG -

Two-time Canadian champion Chelsey Carey will take over Jennifer Jones's curling team for the next two seasons.

Both Carey and the Jones's team confirmed the move in a statement Wednesday posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

Six-time national and two-time world champion Jones retired from women's team curling this season after leading a young team to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final the last two years.

Winnipeg's Carey, 39, will take over skipping the squad of third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine.

Carey's three teammates, aged 25 and under, are also from Manitoba.

Carey won Canadian titles in 2016 and 2019 with different teams.

She didn't have a team this past season, although she was an alternate in various events for Jones, Switzerland's Michele Jaggi and Kate Cameron.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chelsea Carey as the new skip of our team and are so excited for the next couple of years to continue the momentum we had with Jennifer Jones," Lenentine said in the statement.

"We learned so much from Jennifer these last two years and feel that Chelsea will give us that similar edge with her experiencing and shot-making that the transition will be seamless -- especially after the success we had with Chelsea at different times throughout the season."

Under Curling Canada's new qualification avenues for the national men's and women's curling championship, Carey will skip Jones's former team at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.

They qualified by finishing second in the women's Canadian Team Rankings System (CTRS) this season behind No. 1 Rachel Homan, who returns to next year's Hearts as defending champion.

"I'm absolutely thrilled for this opportunity to play alongside Lauren, Emily and Karlee -- three of the great young stars of our game," Carey said. "They are so fun to play with and I was so impressed with their approach to each and every game when I played with them."

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2024.