Timmins police officer switches uniforms to compete at a national curling event

A member of the Timmins Police Service has traded her badge and gun this week for a curling brush and shoes at the Canadian Women’s Curling Championship.

Const. Stephanie Brown, a long-time curler, is taking part in the Scotties in Thunder Bay.

She once played in the Ottawa region with the lead of Team Yukon, Kimberly Tuor. When the Hailey Birnie rink advanced to the national championship, the team reached out to Brown to be an alternate on the squad, and she jumped at the opportunity.

“The experience has been once in a lifetime,” she said. “I never thought I would be here even as a fifth player. It’s been a dream come true.”

As a fifth player, you never know when you will see action or whether you will play at all. However, the police constable has been able to hit the pebbled ice for two round-robin games.

“I am not up at the standards that I like, but I had a baby girl a couple of months ago, and that kind of changed a few things," Brown said.

"COVID closed our local club for a while so I wasn’t able to practice as much as I would have liked."

Going into Thursday night’s action, Team Yukon had not yet won a game, Brown said the team has been competitive.

“We’ve had a few close games and the scoreboard might show different; however, the girls have been playing terrific and we’re learning,” said Brown.

She added this is the first year Team Birnie has been together.