Cool Sweepings: Jamaican curling brings tropical vibes to the roaring game

Ah, Jamaica. The island of sun-baked beaches, lush forests, striking hills, friendly people and now…curling?

Yep, you read that correctly. The Caribbean nation - known more for its athletics superstars and exploits in bobsleigh at the Olympic Winter Games Calgary 1988 - has turned its attention to the roaring game, with big dreams guiding its small team of dedicated players.

“We want to see Jamaica one day in the Olympics,” said Margot Shepherd-Spurgeon, one-half of the nation’s mixed doubles team, during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.

“Every competition that we're in moves us towards getting the points we need, moving us up the ladder and then hopefully inspiring us to go into more competitions where we can start collecting points and going into the qualifiers,” she explained.

Shepherd-Spurgeon, and her mixed doubles partner Andrew Walker, are set to become the second pairing from the tropical island to compete at the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event, which will be held in Dumfries, Scotland from 2-7 December.

The gravity of the moment isn’t lost on either of the Jamaican curlers, with Walker noting, “If we can be as popular and as memorable in curling as Cool Runnings was to the bobsled, then we'd have done our job.”

While it might seem like an odd sport for the island nation to adopt, curling is just the latest winter sport to find an improbable home among the sandy beaches and sunny mountains of Jamaica.

From sunny beaches to icy halls: Jamaican curling takes shape

Jamaican athletes have never seen their nation’s geography or climate as a limitation. From alpine skiing to bobsleigh, they’ve made their presence felt at the Olympic Winter Games.

“Jamaicans are everywhere and we like to get involved with everything,” explained Walker, who first discovered curling after moving to Canada as an adult.

The roaring game, as curling is often called, beckoned to Walker. Its mix of strategy and physicality proved a particularly intoxicating combination.

“My wife became a curling widow to me,” stated Walker. “One day she said, ‘Hey, you have to do something about this. You can't sit on the couch and keep watching.’”

It was the loving, but stern push he needed to join a beginner’s league at the Royal Canadian Curling Club in Toronto, Canada. From there, his skills improved, taking him to regional club-level competitions, and eventually, Curling Jamaica.

Accepted as a member association by World Curling in 2022, Curling Jamaica oversees the development of curling among Jamaican athletes, providing them with an opportunity to compete against other emerging nations at the international level.

The nation made its international debut in style at the 2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships, finishing runner-up in the women’s B-division competition with 5 wins and 2 losses. It wasn’t long before the nation was fielding mixed doubles pairs, and a men’s team.

Margot Shepherd-Spurgeon: the bedrock of Jamaican curling

Through the twists and turns of an exciting entry into the sport, one player has been there to witness it all: Margot Shepherd-Spurgeon.

Born to a Jamaican mother in Canada, she grew up watching curling. However, it wasn’t until she moved to Hamilton, Canada later in her life that she was presented with an opportunity to experience the game first-hand.

“I knew I would fall in love with it,” remarked Shepherd-Spurgeon, who now has over 20 years of experience in the sport. “My only regret is that I didn't start curling, you know, when I was like 12 [years old].”

Still, her experience has paid dividends for Jamaica at the international level. She’s played lead and skip for the women’s national team at back-to-back Pan Continental Curling Championships, and served as a coach for her daughter’s mixed doubles pairing at the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event.

Nonetheless, she continues to improve her game, inching forward in the sport, just like the tropical island she represents.

“I think we've got an opportunity to show people that we can curl,” asserted Shepherd-Spurgeon, adding, “It would just be nice to see people, you know, from Jamaica, people who look like us on TV, curling. I mean, that to me is my long-term goal.”

It’s a unifying mission that’s helped motivate both herself and Walker, as they chase promotion to the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2025.

Next stop: World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event 2024

Like curling and Jamaica, Shepherd-Spurgeon and Walker are arguably a naturally incongruous combination. Nevertheless, with limited practice and minimal tournament experience due to their geographical separation, the pair has managed to become Jamaica’s best prospect in the mixed doubles event.

“I think the big thing is that Andrew and I, we get along really well on the ice and we're pretty relaxed,” commented Shepherd-Spurgeon, who will travel with Walker to Dumfries, Scotland for the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event 2024.

There, the pairing will compete for promotion to the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2025 - a significant step towards qualifying for a future edition of the Olympic Games.

“While I go into every competition with the intention of winning, there's some realism in our expectations,” admitted Walker, factoring in a lack of match experience against their opponents.

“There is an increased intensity to everything about international play,” he continued. “Everyone is out there to win, no matter what level they're at. They're coming with their A-game. They're determined.”

Still, he is determined to build a solid foundation for future curlers from Jamaica, who may enter the tournament with dreams of qualifying for the world championships and the Olympic Games.

“We are the shoulders that the next group of curlers will stand on,” asserted Walker, adding, “We have some great curlers behind us.

“They're young, they're vibrant, and those are the curlers that we are looking to, to stand on our shoulders and leapfrog forward.”

For now, however, he’s perfectly happy to don the “quite spectacular” colours of the national team and do his best to raise the profile of curling in Jamaica.

His excitement is matched by Shepherd-Spurgeon, who added, “Hopefully we'll be seen and inspire others to come out and to try it and develop the skills to do it.”

While it’s unlikely the pair will rise to the same level of celebrity as Usain Bolt or Elaine Thompson-Herah, they do hope to at least put curling on the map for many Jamaicans.