'I’m really excited to start working with them': Kaitlyn Lawes to skip her own team in Manitoba

Canada's Kaitlyn Lawes, throws a rock, during the women's curling match against China, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

After Team Jennifer Jones announced that they would be going their separate ways at the end of the season, Winnipeg's Kaitlyn Lawes says she's had time to reflect and figure out what her future in curling was.

The reflection process has led Lawes to a new team – her own.

She announced on Monday the creation of a new curling team based in Manitoba, Team Lawes.

Lawes will be joined by Jocelyn Peterman, who played on Team Jennifer Jones, Selena Njegovan and Kristin MacCuish.

"I had some great conversations with now my new teammates… and it just seemed like the right fit and these women have given me all the confidence in the world to take on skipping this team and I'm really excited to start working with them," said Lawes.

She said playing with Team Jones over the last 12 years has given her the experience she needs to take on the skip role and the first thing the team will work to figure out is what makes them tick and what works best for each player and the team as a whole.

"It will be a little bit of trial and error but we're looking forward to going on this adventure and figuring out what works for us.

“I’ve learned so much from (Jennifer Jones) and I’m forever grateful for the experiences that we had together. She’s an incredible leader and she just finds ways to get better all the time. So I’m hopeful I can draw on that.”

Lawes said her new team is made up of such strong and consistent players, noting they all have big-game experience. She said she knows they will be able to have fun on the ice and compete against every team.

Lawes’ team will still be based in Manitoba and she noted she is excited to be competing against other strong teams in the province, including the new team Jennifer Jones will be in charge of.

“I’m so excited for one, hopefully we can qualify for a provincial championship and to be able to play against the great teams in Manitoba. I think Manitoba curling fans have a lot to look forward to.”

She added it will be weird to play against Jones as that hasn’t happened before in her career, but noted it will be fun to compete against her.

Before she can play against Jones, Lawes noted there are two more Grand Slams that have to be completed as part of Team Jones and she will likely know the new schedule for her team in the summer.

‘IT SEEMS LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF CHAOTIC CRAZINESS’

Lawes also addressed the vast changes that have happened in the Canadian curling world over the last month or so. She said it is normal to see some changes when a new Olympic bracket kicks in but everything has happened all at once this year.

“What a crazy time for curling. It’s so strange for me to be a part of it. I haven’t started a new team from scratch since I was 12 or 13 years old,” she said. “I think it is so exciting for the sport. Right now there are so many changes and I think a lot of eyes and ears on curling right now.

“For some reason this year it seems like it is almost everyone. Whether it’s one teammate leaving or new teams altogether. But it seems like a little bit of chaotic craziness, but it’s exciting.”

She said these changes have reenergized curling, adding change isn’t a bad thing.

“Now fans get to see a new dynamic amongst so many different teams. They get a chance to try and figure out who they want to cheer for, why they want to cheer for that team. And there’s so many different characters in our sports.”