{"id":8352,"date":"2025-02-24T18:51:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T22:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8352"},"modified":"2025-02-24T18:51:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T22:51:43","slug":"liverpool-native-jill-brothers-team-nova-scotia-sweep-to-scotties-podium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/02\/24\/liverpool-native-jill-brothers-team-nova-scotia-sweep-to-scotties-podium\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool native Jill Brothers, Team Nova Scotia sweep to Scotties podium"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Team Nova Scotia third Jill Brothers in the Page 3 vs 4 game at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts on the weekend. (Curling Canada\/Andrew Klaver Photography)<\/p><\/div>\n

It was an intense, emotional week of curling at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for Liverpool native Jill Brothers and Team Nova Scotia.<\/span><\/p>\n

But they topped it off with a spot on the podium on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers is the third on the team skipped by Christina Black. They made it to the semi-final against Manitoba\u2019s Kerri Einarson, losing 9-8, forcing Einarson to make her last shot for the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers told QCCR from Thunder Bay on Monday that they were happy with how they battled back during the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe almost got the steal in the end, so we just kept believing in ourselves that we could make it a really close game and make her throw her last rock.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s their first year together as a team, and Brothers says getting on the podium at the national championship was a big win for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were having a lot of fun and we just wanted to keep the game really exciting and close. \u2026 It\u2019s a long, long week of a lot of focus and concentration and so we were just really happy with our performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Scotties, you get a ring if you make it on the podium. So that’s always been a lifelong goal: I want to be on the podium, I want to get a ring.”<\/span><\/p>\n

But the team also fought through some adversity to get there. Teammate Jenn Baxter\u2019s father died suddenly on Saturday, the day before the semi-final.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mixture of letting out some tears in between the games and then parking the situation a little bit and just knowing that Jenn and her dad would want us to be out there giving our all. We found the energy to regruop and lean on each other a little bit.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachel Homan\u2019s team repeated as national champions, after their win over Einarson on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were super kind to us. After they won, they came over to us and just acknowledged the situation we had been in the last couple of days. It was super special that they were so kind and congratulated us and just commended our play in the last couple of games knowing what we had been through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Team Nova Scotia entered the tournament in Thunder Bay ranked fourth in the country. And with the bronze medal win on Sunday, they believe they have a chance to be one of the seven teams with an automatic berth in the Olympic trials in Halifax in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

All team members live in the Halifax area and train together at least four times a week. Some other elite Canadian teams have members scattered in different cities or provinces. Brothers said being in the same city has been a big part of their success so far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way we\u2019d be where we are without being together this much. \u2026 It\u2019s invaluable. <\/span>And we heard it a lot at the Scotties this year. I don\u2019t know if we have any inspiration for teams to maybe get back to doing it (that way), I guess it feels like an old school way. Like Colleen Jones (and her team), they just all lived in the Halifax area and they were together all the time, just practise, practise practise and that’s how they got their results.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 41-year-old has been to the Scotties eight times in her career, as a skip and in other positions. But this is the first time the 2004 Canadian women\u2019s junior champion made it to a senior semi-final.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had success at such a young age as skip and you do it for so long that the pressure can kind of wear on you after a while. I’ve skipped for a long time. It’s a position I’m comfortable in, but I like to chat, to communicate, I like to use my strength and sweep. I was so happy to play third for someone who loves to play skip.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers says she\u2019s keen to get back to work as the technical director for the Nova Scotia Curling Association. But she\u2019s really looking forward to getting home to Bedford and spending time with her husband Paul and their two kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her family was in Thunder Bay for the Scotties, but the kids got sick early in the week, so they missed a lot of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just really want to spend some time with my kids. I just want to watch my kids plays soccer and go curling and go to dance. That’s my next goal is just to do some work and hang out with the kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers says she\u2019s grateful for all the support from her family and friends and from her hometown of Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n

“My sister lives there, my mom lives there. I’d choose to be there every second weekend if we could. It\u2019s just great to have a special place that I still call home and they\u2019re so supportive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA huge shoutout to my husband, Mom that lives in Brooklyn, my mother-in-law that lives in Cole Harbour. They all do so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo have them supporting me to do this is incredible. They’ve always got my back. Even my neighbour, he had to take the kids to school when I flew out to the Scotties. We\u2019ve got so many great people helping us out, so that\u2019s super important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of the story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/jillbrothersscottiesfeb2425.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was an intense, emotional week of curling at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for Liverpool native Jill Brothers and Team Nova Scotia. But they topped it off with a spot on the podium on Sunday. Brothers is the third on the team skipped by Christina Black. They made it to the semi-final against Manitoba\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2911,2909,390,1997,2280,2910,39,2912,2714,2907,1626,1871,2908],"class_list":["post-8352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-bedford","tag-christina-black","tag-curling","tag-halifax","tag-jill-brothers","tag-keri-einarson","tag-liverpool","tag-nova-scotia-curling","tag-rachel-homan","tag-scotties-tournament-of-hearts","tag-sports","tag-team-nova-scotia","tag-thunder-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8355,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8352\/revisions\/8355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}