Shona Barbour

Shona Barbour (born July 4, 1979, Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian curler from Inuvik, Northwest Territories. She is the lead for the Kerry Galusha rink from the Yellowknife Curling Centre in Yellowknife.^[1]

Career

Juniors

Barbour made her first national debut at the 1995 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, playing second stones for Tara Hamer. The team ended up finishing round robin with a 3-8 record.^[2] In 1996 Barbour returned to the juniors once more, this time throwing third stones for Kerry Koe. The team finished round robin with a 5-7 record.^[3] Barbour made her final junior appearance in 1998, playing third for Koe, and again failed to make the playoffs, finishing round robin with a 2-10 record.^[4]

2005–2009

It was not until 2005 that Barbour return to national stage. She made her first Scott appearance at the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, as the alternate for Koe. The team finished round robin with a 4-7 record.^[5]

At the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Barbour returned as the alternate for Kerry Galusha. The team lost their first six games and following draw nine, Galusha moved from throwing third rocks, to lead rocks. The change did not help, as the team lost three more games before winning their first. They finished round robin with a 1-10 record.^[6]

In 2009 Barbour became a member of the Galusha team throwing second stones. The made history at the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, when they beat the defending champions Team Canada Jennifer Jones. This was the first time a team from the Northwest Territories defeated the defending champions in a Scotties tournament. It was the second time in the history of the Scotties a team from the Northwest Territories/Yukon defeated the defending champion during round robin play. The first was at the 1987 Scott Tournament of Hearts, when the Yukon's Shelly Aucoin defeated Marilyn Darte. This victory over team Canada earned the Galusha team the 2009 Sport North Team of the Year Award.^[7] That year Galusha's team finished 4-7.^[8]

2011–current

In 2011 Barbour and the team once again won the 2011 Yukon/NWT Scotties Tournament of Hearts Territorial championship, finishing 5-1. She went on to represent the Yukon/Northwest Territories at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, this time playing lead, where the team finished round robin with a 3-8 record.^[9]

For the 2011–12 curling season, Galusha, Barbour, and second Wendy Miller added Sharon Cormier and Megan Cormier to the team, creating a five-person team. Barbour, Miller and M. Cormier would alternate between lead, second and fifth. Barbour played lead with Miller at second, and second with M.Cormier at lead. With this combination, the team found early success during the 2011/2012 season. During the World Curling Tour, they defeated defending Canadian champion Amber Holland, and Olympic Silver Medalist Cheryl Bernard, and for the first time qualified for the playoffs during a tour event. They advanced to the playoffs at the 2011 Boundary Ford Curling Classic, however they lost the quarterfinal to Edmonton's Tiffany Odegard. The team qualified for the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. At the 2012 event, things started off well, with Galusha winning the 2012 Ford Hot Shots, and the team starting off with a 2-1 record in the first three games. After catching the flu, which was heavily circulating amongst all teams, Galusha missed two games, one of which found second Miller sitting out with the flu. This left three players on the ice. M.Cormier threw the first three stones, Barbour threw the next three stones, and S.Cormier threw the final two skip stones. The team could not recover from Galusha's absence and would finish round robin with a 4-7 record. Although the team finished with a disappointing record, it marked a second occasion for Barbour defeating the defending champions, Team Canada (Amber Holland) during round robin, marking the fourth time in history, a team from the Territories would achieve this. They also defeated the eventual champions, Team Alberta's Heather Nedohin.

References