One of the pillars of the Okotoks curling community is bringing home a national championship.
Okotoks skip Atina Ford Johnston and Team Alberta won gold at the 2024 Everest Canadian Senior Curling Championships Saturday afternoon in Moncton, N.B. with a 5-4 win over Ontario’s Team Jo-Ann Rizzo.
“It still feels a bit surreal that we won a Canadian championship and are going to a world championship,” said Ford Johnston. “It was a lot of fun at the event and I think we worked pretty hard and we’re very proud of our efforts.”
Following three blank ends, Team Alberta took control in the middle of the game with a steal of one in the fourth followed by a steal of four in the fifth. Ontario countered with two in the sixth and a steal of one in the seventh.
In the eighth, Ford Johnston had hammer and knocked out one of the two Ontario yellow stones to clinch the title on the final throw.
“It was nerve-racking,” the skip added. “We were fortunate they gave us that steal of four there to put us ahead on the scoreboard. The ice was a little bit tricky, I love tricky ice, so I don’t mind that at all, but it was release sensitive, weight sensitive so if you were not as precise as you needed to be it made you pay for it.
“We struggled a little bit with our defence and holding the lead, but we did it in the end and did what we had to do. All champions need a little luck as well in order to be champions and we got our fair share of luck there too.”
Team Alberta, featuring Ford Johnston throwing skip stones, vice-skip Shannon Morris from Sherwood Park, second Sheri Pickering from Irricana and lead Cori Morris out of Calgary, finished pool and championship play with an 8-2 record, second behind Team Rizzo, the only undefeated team in the competition ahead of the final.
All told, Alberta won 10 of its 12 games in Moncton.
The Alberta team, fourth place finishers at the 2023 nationals, knocked off Nova Scotia’s Team Radford 6-3 in the semifinal earlier on Saturday.
“It’s a jam-packed week,” Ford Johnston said. “Everest, the funeral concierge, is a fantastic sponsor for the Canadian Senior Championship and just provided so many opportunities for different types of events throughout the week.
“We’re very tired, but had the experience of going last year in Vernon and knew what to expect which was really helpful going this year in Moncton.”
It’s the first national senior women’s championship for an Alberta team since 2015.
As national winners, Team Alberta advances as the Canadian representatives at the World Senior Curling Championships held April 26-May 3, 2025 in Fredericton, N.B.
The championship adds to a considerable trophy case for Team Alberta members.
Ford Johnston is an Olympic gold medallist as the alternate on the Sandra Schmirler rink that took the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano by storm along with a world championship title and junior world championship bronze on her resume. Cori Morris was part of Cheryl Bernard’s Olympic silver medallist squad at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
A fixture in the local curling community, Ford Johnston coaches in the Okotoks Curling Club’s Junior Academy and was the co-chair of the 2020 Alberta Scotties held in Okotoks.
“It’s always such a privilege to wear the maple leaf. I’ve been so fortunate in my life to do this a few times now and so has Cori when she went to Olympics there in 2010,” said Ford Johnston.
“We know what a privilege it is and how proud we are of that and we’re just so happy that Shannon and Sheri get to experience that as well.”
