Sport Profile
Team Lawes - Curling
The 2009 edition of the women’s junior curling squad, Team Lawes, had all the makings of a great championship team. They had an accomplished skip in Kaitlyn Lawes, an experienced coach in Rob Meakin, the father of lead Breanne Meakin, and they had a common goal. They wanted to be the best women’s junior curling team in the world.
They came within one game of reaching that goal as Team Lawes took home silver at the world women’s junior curling championships in Vancouver this past March. Team Lawes, which is made up by skip Kaitlyn Lawes, third Jenna Loder, second Larissa Grenkow, and lead Breanne Meakin, reached the world championships by winning Manitoba’s Target junior provincial championship and the M&M Meats Canadian junior women’s championship, just as Lawes and Loder had done together in 2008.
 |
Team Lawes accepts Team of the Year Award at the 2009 Sport for Life Gala presented by John Freese of Calm Air. The award was for the team's accomplishments in 2008. |
In order to keep things level any great championship team needs to have a mixture of personalities, and Team Lawes certainly had that this season. Even the Chicago Bulls in their prime had Dennis Rodman. While the team’s lead, Breanne Meakin, may have been the most extroverted in the group, she wasn’t exactly Rodman. According to Lawes, Meakin kept things light which had a constant calming influence on the team. “She was very bubbly and always positive,” said Lawes. “She was always great to be around.”
The most determined member of the group may have been their second, Larissa Grenkow. “Larissa brought a lot of intensity and was always very passionate,” said Lawes. “She always wanted to do her best.” And like the Bulls’ Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Kaitlyn Lawes had Jenna Loder. Loder and Lawes won bronze at the world junior women’s curling championship in 2008 and Lawes said she could always count on Loder. “Jenna is also very intense. She’s never negative and she makes things easier for me. She’s a great team mate.”
 Team Lawes wins Bronze at 2008 Worlds |
What Lawes valued most about the way her team mates got along was their shared sense of humour. Their coach and Breanne’s father, Rob Meakin, definitely recognized the camaraderie. “They had great chemistry,” said coach Meakin. “But it’s not just getting along, they had the same goals, too. They were driven. Each person on that team had the same aspirations and the same goal. It was a dream team to coach. I didn’t have to do much motivation.”
Due to age limitations, the 2009 Team Lawes will not be competing together again next year. Breanne Meakin will be the only junior aged curler in the group and according to her father and coach Rob Meakin, she plans to skip next season. Larissa Grenkow will take time off to focus on her studies at the University of Manitoba and Jenna Loder will reunite with her 2008 team mates, Sarah Wazney and Liz Peters. Meanwhile, skip Kaitlyn Lawes will be playing with Alberta’s Cathy King next season as she looks to further her young and promising curling career.
Story by Kalen Qually
