Selena Njegovan and her husband Connor had a big decision to make earlier this year.
Both were sorting out what was next in their curling careers at the end of an Olympic quadrennial, with each of their now-former teams ultimately splitting up.
But after finding out that they were expecting twins later this summer, the Njegovans realized they had a bit of a conundrum on their hands: two curling careers and two new babies — to go along with their three-year-old at home — might be a bit too difficult to manage.
Eventually, the pair came to a decision: Selena would continue on, while Connor would take a step back from the sport.
“I kind of told him not to,” Selena said in an interview with GSOC. “But we just kind of came to the conclusion that I will be the one to keep playing. … I know how much he loves the sport and how much he loves competing. So it was very hard for me to allow him to do that. But it meant a lot to me.”
“I’m really grateful that he’s allowing me to keep playing. A lot of times, the mom quits to stay home with the kids.”
Connor had spent the last four years playing alongside Reid Carruthers, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Instead of shopping around for a new team, he opted simply to step aside for the time being.
“It was a lot of tears on my part,” she added. “I was really grateful that he’s allowed me to keep playing. Obviously, with twins coming, our lives are going to be a lot different. And it just wasn’t realistic for both of us to be able to keep playing, at least for now. The fact that he made that decision, it was hard.”
One shot away
Njegovan herself spent the last quadrennial curling out of Manitoba alongside Kristin Gordon, Jocelyn Peterman and Kaitlyn Lawes, with the latter two of her teammates both having Olympic experience (and two gold medals for Lawes). On paper, they were slated to be one of the country’s top teams, but their performance didn’t always meet their high expectations.
They missed the playoffs at the Olympic Trials, as well as the 2023 and 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and fell into the Tier 2 bracket at two of the four Grand Slam of Curling events they competed in this past season.
But in their final event together at this year’s Scotties — with Laura Walker subbing in for Peterman, who was preparing for the mixed doubles competition at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina — the team found their footing, winning their first 10 games to advance to the final.
“Obviously, we didn’t have the four years that we had hoped for, but we were able to kind of pull it all together, almost all together, at the Scotties,” Njeogvan said.
The final was one for the ages, with Kerri Einarson hitting a last-rock angle raise in the 10th end to force an extra end before stealing the victory in the 11th.
Would Team Lawes have continued had they won the Canadian title and the right to wear the maple leaf at next year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts? It’s a question that might not ever be answered, with Lawes and Gordon opting to take a step back from the sport in the weeks following the final.
“Somebody actually just asked me this question … we didn’t have any conversations about that,” Njegovan said. “I don’t know where everyone’s head was at, if we would have won. Yeah, not really sure. We didn’t talk about it.”
A new venture
Once the dust settled from the end of the season — and after more than a few difficult conversations — Njeogvan went about finding a new rink.
“It’s hard to put into words. I just love curling. I love the competition. I love the people. It’s fun to have a goal and trying to achieve it, working hard towards it. And I don’t know any different,” Njegovan said. “I’ve curled for so long, so it would be so weird to not play. And right now I’m not ready to step away. I still want to compete. I still have that drive and that fire and motivation.”
While she still threw third rocks, Njegovan had taken over game-calling duties for Team Lawes this past season. And in her new team alongside Erin Pincott, Margot Flemming, and Krysten Karwacki, Njegovan will be the full-time skip for the Winnipeg-based rink. Pincott will be moving to the area with partner and Brier champion Matt Dunstone, while Flemming serves as the team’s import with plans to spend time training with her teammates in Winnipeg.
“To have these three girls believe in me to step into that role is really nice,” Njegovan said. “Just really looking forward to getting on the ice with them and seeing what we can accomplish. … I think that’s very beneficial to be able to train all together as a foursome. The curling landscape has definitely changed in the last few years. Teams have just gotten so, so good.”
In the first year of the quadrennial, Njegovan is focusing on developing chemistry with her new rink.
“Obviously, every time you step on the ice, you want to win,” Njegovan added. “But you really have to take learning opportunities from every game. Especially in that first year. And reflecting and kind of taking away, ‘What did we do well? What can we change?’ And hoping from all those conversations — some might be hard conversations — hoping that all the information that you gather from that will turn into wins down the road.”
Njegovan is working with a couple of physiotherapists and a trainer to get herself in competitive shape this fall, though she doesn’t have an exact date for when she’ll be able to begin playing again following the birth of the twins.
“I’m feeling really good. I’m optimistic about my recovery,” she said. “I’m doing all I can right now to make it as easy as possible to get back on the ice as soon as possible.”
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