Jamie Sinclair

Canadian-American curler (born 1992)

Jamie Sinclair

Curler

Sinclair at the 2018 Players' Championship

Born|  (1992-02-21) February 21, 1992 (age 32)

Anchorage, Alaska[1]

Team
Curling club| Manotick CC, Manotick and Charlotte Curling Association, Charlotte, North Carolina[2][3]
Skip| Laurie St-Georges
Third| Jamie Sinclair
Second| Emily Riley
Lead| Lisa Weagle
Curling career
Member Association|  Ontario (2006–2014)
Minnesota (2014–2019)
Grand National (2019–2022)
Ineligible (2022–2023)
Quebec (2023–Present)
Hearts appearances| 1 (2024)
World Championship
appearances| 2 (2018, 2019)
Top CTRS ranking| 20th (2023–24)
Grand Slam victories| 1 (2018 Players' Championship)

Medal record

Women's Curling
Representing  Minnesota
United States National Championships
|  2017 Everett |
|  2018 Fargo |
|  2019 Kalamazoo |
United States Olympic Curling Trials
|  2017 Omaha |
Representing  North Carolina
United States Olympic Curling Trials
|  2021 Omaha |
United States National Championships
|  2020 Cheney |
|  2021 Wausau |
Representing  Ontario
Canada Winter Games
|  2007 Whitehorse |

Jamie Ann Sinclair (born February 21, 1992)[1] is an American-Canadian curler from Osgoode, Ontario and is a three-time U.S. National Champion.[4] Her United States Curling Association membership is through the Charlotte Curling Association in Charlotte, North Carolina where she has a number of personal connections.[2][3] She grew up in Manotick, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa.

## Curling career

[edit]

### 2007–2013: Juniors

[edit]

Sinclair won a gold medal at the 2007 Canada Winter Games, playing lead for the Rachel Homan rink. She was a member of the Homan rink that won the 2006 Bantam provincial championship.[5] She won the Bantam provincial championship again in 2009 as a skip.

Sinclair played in her first World Curling Tour (WCT) event, at the 2011 Challenge Casino Lac Leamy. Her rink finished with a 1–2 record in her pool, and did not make the playoffs.

Sinclair and her rink of Holly Donaldson, Chantal Allan and Casandra Raganold won the provincial women's junior championship in 2012, defeating Lauren Horton 9–3.[6] This earned her rink the right to represent Ontario at the 2012 Canadian Junior Curling Championships where they finished with a 7–5 record, just missing the playoffs in fourth place.

Sinclair won her second straight provincial junior title in 2013, with a new front end of Katelyn Wasylkiw and Erin Jenkins with Donaldson still at third. At the 2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, her team did make the playoffs, but lost in the semi-final to Manitoba's Shannon Birchard, settling for third place.

### 2013–2016: Moving to the United States

[edit]

For the 2013–14 season, Sinclair played on WCT teams on both sides of the border, playing third for the Ottawa-based Brit O'Neill rink, and third for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based Alexandra Carlson rink. With the Carlson rink, Sinclair played in the 2014 United States Women's Curling Championship, finishing with a 6–3 round robin record, but losing in a tie-breaker match. At the end of the season, Sinclair won the 2014 CIS/CCA Curling Championships, Canada's national university championship for Carleton University.

In 2014, Sinclair fully committed to playing out of the United States, and moved to Minnesota.[7] For the 2014–15 season, she played third for the Nina Roth rink, which also consisted of Becca Hamilton and Tabitha Peterson. The team missed the playoffs at the 2015 United States Women's Curling Championship. The team played in two Grand Slam events, missing the playoffs at both the 2014 Colonial Square Ladies Classic and the 2014 Canadian Open of Curling.

In 2015, Roth left the team, with Sinclair assuming skipping duties, Hamilton throwing third rocks, Tabitha Peterson staying at lead and Tara Peterson joining the team at second. In their first season together, the team finished 4th at the 2016 United States Women's Curling Championship. The team played in one Slam, the 2015 National, going winless.

### 2016–2020: Success at Nationals

[edit]

In 2016, Sinclair formed a new team with Alexandra Carlson, Vicky Persinger and Monica Walker.[8] Sinclair found much more success with her new team, winning the 2017 U.S. Championships, but missed out on going to the World Championship due to Nina Roth earning more points throughout the season.[9] They also played for the winning North American Team at the 2017 Continental Cup of Curling and made it to the quarterfinals of the last Grand Slam of the season, the 2017 Humpty's Champions Cup.

The team started the 2017–18 season by winning the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic. At the 2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials, they missed their chance to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics when they lost a close three game final series to Nina Roth's team.[10] Later that season they defended their national title, winning the 2018 United States Women's Curling Championship.[11] Representing the United States at the 2018 World Women's Championship, they finished fourth, losing the bronze medal game to Russia's Victoria Moiseeva.[12] Team Sinclair made history at the 2018 Players' Championship when they became the first American team to win a Grand Slam event.[13] They finished the season with another quarterfinal finish at the 2018 Humpty's Champions Cup.[14]

The United States Curling Association would change the high performance teams the following season for the next Olympic quadrennial. Sinclair would continue skipping with twin sisters Sarah and Taylor Anderson playing third and second respectively and Monica Walker would continue to play lead. The team did not have a very successful season up until the 2019 United States Women's Curling Championship where they defeated the Roth rink in final. At the 2019 World Women's Curling Championship, the team went 6–6 finishing in seventh place, just missing the playoffs.[15]

The following season, Walker announced she would be retiring from competitive curling. The team brought on Cory Christensen to play third with Sinclair's former teammate Vicky Persinger coming on to play second. The Anderson twins would play lead and alternate. Retired Canadian curler Cathy Overton-Clapham joined the High Performance Program as Team Sinclair's coach for the 2019–20 season.[16] They would win the Red Deer Curling Classic World Curling Tour event.

At the 2020 United States Women's Championship Team Sinclair only lost one game in the round robin, earning the number one seed in the playoffs. In the 1 vs. 2 page playoff Sinclair lost to Tabitha Peterson's team, who they faced again in the final after defeating Ariel Traxler's junior team in the semifinals. Peterson defeated Team Sinclair a second time in the final, with a final score of 7–5, stopping Sinclair from tying Debbie McCormick's record of four National Titles in a row.[17]

### 2020–2022: New lineup and doubles success

[edit]

In March 2020, after an early end to the curling season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sinclair announced via twitter that her teammates had decided to part ways with her.[18][19] Later in the off-season it was announced that Sinclair had formed a new team, bringing Walker out of her short retirement to play at third, and adding two younger curlers for the front end, Cora Farrell and Elizabeth Cousins.[20][21] The team was not able to compete in any tour events due to the pandemic, but they were able to play in the 2021 United States Women's Curling Championship, held May 26–30 in Wausau, Wisconsin.[22] There, they topped the round robin with an undefeated 6–0 record, which qualified them directly to the championship final where they faced Team Cory Christensen, Sinclair's former teammates.[23] After trailing early, Team Sinclair tied the game in the eighth end, but couldn't hold on for the win as Christensen scored two points in the extra end to win 8–6.[24]

The following season, Team Sinclair began by winning the 2021 Oakville Fall Classic, defeating Suzanne Birt 8–6 in the final game.[25] Later in the season, they won another tour event at the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic with a 10–4 win over Kristy Watling in the championship final.[26] They reached the final of the US Open of Curling, losing to the Tabitha Peterson rink 8–5 in the final. They also had a semifinal finish at the 2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic and a quarterfinal finish at the 2021 Oakville Labour Day Classic.[27] Team Sinclair then played in the 2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials, held November 12 to 21 at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.[28] Despite entering the Trials as the second ranked team, the team did not have a good performance, failing to reach the playoff round with a 4–6 record, finishing third.[29] Team Sinclair ended the 2021–22 season with a semifinal loss at the Curl Mesabi Classic. They disbanded following the season.

Aside from her women's team, Sinclair had a successful mixed doubles 2021–22 season with partner Rich Ruohonen. The pair qualified for the 2021 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials and finished the round robin with a 5–4 record. They then beat John Shuster and Cory Christensen in a tiebreaker before winning both the 3 vs. 4 and semifinal games to qualify for the final. There, they played Sinclair's former teammate Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys.[30] Tied in the eighth end, Persinger scored one for her team to end Sinclair's chances of reaching the 2022 Winter Olympics.[31] The team also played in the 2022 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship later in the season where they lost in the semifinal to Sinclair's teammate Monica Walker and Andrew Stopera, earning the bronze medal.[32]

### 2022–present: Return to Canada

[edit]

Sinclair moved back to Manotick, Ontario in 2022,[33] having missed her family during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] On August 12, 2022, the new Manitoba based Chelsea Carey team announced that Sinclair would be joining them as their alternate for the 2022–23 season.[34] The team also included Jolene Campbell at third, Liz Fyfe at second and Rachel Erickson at lead.

In 2023, it was announced that Sinclair would be joining team Laurie St-Georges as her third. Due to recent participation in the US playdown process, it was originally announced that she would not be eligible to play in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian Nationals) until the 2024–25 season.[33] However, Curling Canada updated the eligibility requirements to match that of World Curling, allowing her to compete for Team St-Georges at the 2024 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Sinclair's residence in Ottawa was close enough to Quebec to allow her to compete for the province without being counted as an import player under Curling Canada's residency rules.[7] The team won the Quebec Hearts, qualifying them for the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts national championship, the first in Sinclair's career.

## Personal life

[edit]

Sinclair was born in Anchorage, Alaska,[1] where her Canadian father was on military exchange.[35] The family moved back to Canada when she was 2, settling in Northern Quebec before moving to Ontario.[36]

In October 2016 it was announced that she would appear as "Miss July" in the 2017 Women of Curling calendar.[37]

Sinclair was born with a hearing disability. She graduated Carleton University with an honours degree in International Business and did a year of study abroad in Chile.[38]

Sinclair currently works as a design and renovation contractor.[39]

## Teams

[edit]

Season  | Skip  | Third  | Second  | Lead  | Alternate  | Coach  | Events

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2005–06[40] | Rachel Homan | Emma Miskew | Lynn Kreviazuk | Jamie Sinclair |  | Earle Morris |
2006–07  | Rachel Homan | Emma Miskew | Lynn Kreviazuk | Jamie Sinclair |  | Earle Morris | 2007 Canada Games
2008–09[40] | Jamie Sinclair | Cheryl Kreviazuk | Melissa Gannon | Rebecca Wichers-Schreur |  |  |
2009–10  | Jamie Sinclair | Cheryl Kreviazuk | Melissa Gannon | Rebecca Wichers-Schreur |  |  |
2010–11  | Jamie Sinclair | Sara Westman | Rachelle Strybosch | Tess Bobbie |  |  |
2011–12  | Jamie Sinclair | Holly Donaldson | Chantal Allan | Casandra Raganold |  |  | 2012 CJCC (4th)
2012–13  | Jamie Sinclair | Holly Donaldson | Katelyn Wasylkiw | Erin Jenkins |  |  | 2013 CJCC
2013–14  | Brit O'Neill | Jamie Sinclair | Kim Brown | Trish Scharf |  |  |
Alex Carlson | Jamie Sinclair | Emilia Juocys | Sherri Schummer |  |  | 2014 USWCC (5th)
Jamie Sinclair | Lauren Horton | Lynn Kreviazuk | Jessica Armstrong | Sarah Armstrong | Doug Kreviazuk | 2014 CIS/CCA Cham.
2014–15  | Nina Roth | Jamie Sinclair | Becca Hamilton | Tabitha Peterson |  |  | 2015 USWCC (5th)
2015–16  | Jamie Sinclair | Tabitha Peterson | Becca Hamilton | Jenna Haag | Tara Peterson |  | 2016 USWCC (4th)
2016–17  | Jamie Sinclair | Alex Carlson | Vicky Persinger | Monica Walker |  |  | 2017 USOCT
2017 USWCC
2017–18  | Jamie Sinclair | Alex Carlson | Vicky Persinger | Monica Walker | Jenna Martin (WWCC) | Scott Baird | 2018 USWCC
2018 WWCC (4th)
2018–19  | Jamie Sinclair | Sarah Anderson | Taylor Anderson | Monica Walker | Vicky Persinger (WWCC) | Bryan Cochrane | 2019 USWCC
2019 WWCC (7th)
2019–20  | Jamie Sinclair | Cory Christensen | Vicky Persinger | Taylor Anderson | Sarah Anderson | Cathy Overton-Clapham | 2020 USWCC
2020–21  | Jamie Sinclair | Monica Walker | Cora Farrell | Elizabeth Cousins |  | Mark Lazar | 2021 USWCC
2021–22  | Jamie Sinclair | Monica Walker | Cora Farrell | Elizabeth Cousins |  |  | 2021 USOCT
2022–23  | Chelsea Carey | Jolene Campbell | Liz Fyfe | Rachel Erickson | Jamie Sinclair |  |
2023–24  | Laurie St-Georges | Jamie Sinclair | Emily Riley | Kelly Middaugh | Marie-France Larouche |  | 2024 STOH (11th)
2024–25  | Laurie St-Georges | Jamie Sinclair | Emily Riley | Lisa Weagle |  |  |

## Grand Slam record

[edit]

When Sinclair won the 2018 Players' Championship, she became the first ever American skip to win a Grand Slam tournament.[41]

Key

C | Champion
F  | Lost in Final
SF  | Lost in Semifinal
QF  | Lost in Quarterfinals
R16  | Lost in the round of 16
Q  | Did not advance to playoffs
T2  | Played in Tier 2 event
DNP  | Did not participate in event
N/A  | Not a Grand Slam event that season

Event  | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

The National | N/A  | Q | DNP  | DNP  | Q | DNP  | N/A  | DNP  | Q
Tour Challenge | N/A  | T2 | DNP  | T2 | Q | DNP  | N/A  | N/A  | Q
Masters | DNP  | DNP  | DNP  | QF | Q | DNP  | N/A  | DNP  | QF
Canadian Open | Q | DNP  | DNP  | Q | DNP  | DNP  | N/A  | N/A  | DNP
Players' | DNP  | DNP  | DNP  | C | DNP  | N/A  | DNP  | DNP  | Q[a]
Champions Cup | N/A  | DNP  | QF | QF | Q | N/A  | DNP  | DNP  | DNP

### Former events

[edit]

Event  | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19

|
|
|
|
|

Elite 10 | N/A  | N/A  | N/A  | N/A  | Q
Colonial Square Ladies Classic | Q | N/A  | N/A  | N/A  | N/A

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Sinclair spared for Jessie Haughian on Team Scheidegger.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "CurlingZone Profile of Jamie Sinclair". CurlingZone. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
2. ^ a b Marusak, Joe (7 August 2014). "Top U.S., Canadian curlers to compete in Charlotte area this weekend". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina: McClatchy. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016.
3. ^ a b "Curling Olympic Tour Comes to Charlotte". NC Headlines. Carrboro, North Carolina: New Media Campaigns. 23 January 2015.
4. ^ "2017 USA Women's National Curling Championship". CurlingZone.com. 28 February 2017.
5. ^ "Past Champions". Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
6. ^ Desaulniers, Darren (January 9, 2012). "Experience benefits Manotick's Sinclair rink". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. B2. Retrieved February 20, 2024 - via newspapers.com.
7. ^ a b c "Sinclair looking to make a difference for Quebec in first career Scotties". TSN. February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
8. ^ Davis, Terry (July 14, 2016). "HPP team lineups announced". USA Curling. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
9. ^ "Shuster, Sinclair teams win curling nationals". Star Tribune. February 20, 2017. p. C3. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
10. ^ Blount, Rachel (November 19, 2017). "Making it across the finish line". Star Tribune. p. C5. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
11. ^ Monteith, Austin (Mar 10, 2018). "CURLING: Sinclair, Persinger teams win Nationals". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
12. ^ Price, Karen (March 25, 2018). "Team Sinclair Finishes Fourth At World Women's Curling Championship, Missing Out On Bronze In Last End". Team USA. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
13. ^ Brazeau, Jonathan (April 17, 2018). "8 Ends: Sinclair's Grand Slam win continues US surge in curling". Sportsnet. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
14. ^ Brazeau, Jonathan (April 28, 2018). "Homan halts Sinclair in GSOC Champions Cup women's quarterfinals". Sportsnet. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
15. ^ "World Women's Curling Championship 2019". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
16. ^ "Hall of Famer Cathy Overton-Clapham to coach Team Jamie Sinclair". TSN. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
17. ^ Schneider, Angela (2020-02-15). "Tabitha Peterson takes aggressive approach to dethrone Jamie Sinclair in women's title match of USA Curling Championships". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
18. ^ Jamie Sinclair [@jamiesinclair21] (March 13, 2020). "My team has decided to go in a different direction next year, so I am now a free agent. People say change is good right? Here's to the next chapter, and good luck to team Christensen next season" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
19. ^ Brazeau, Jonathan (March 24, 2020). "Eight Ends: Breaking down top curling team changes for next season - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
20. ^ "Team Sinclair Announced". USA Curling. May 7, 2020. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
21. ^ "Jamie Sinclair, Monica Walker reunite for 2020–21 season". TSN. May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
22. ^ @usacurl (May 4, 2021). "Meet the seven women's teams that have qualified for the 2021 #USACurling Women's National Championship!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 28, 2021 - via Twitter.
23. ^ "CHRISTENSEN, SINCLAIR TO PLAY IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL". USA Curling. May 30, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
24. ^ "CHRISTENSEN WINS 2021 U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP". USA Curling. May 30, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
25. ^ "Howard wins Oakville Fall Classic; Sinclair edges Birt in women's final". TSN. August 29, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
26. ^ "Curling tours update". Curling Canada. October 4, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
27. ^ Todd Saelhof (October 11, 2021). "American Peterson hopes Autumn Gold Curling Classic win sign of things to come". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
28. ^ "2022 Olympic Team Trials". USA Curling. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
29. ^ "Team Christensen clinches second playoff spot at 2022 Trials". USA Curling. November 17, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
30. ^ "Sinclair/Ruohonen advance to 2022 Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials final". USA Curling. October 30, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
31. ^ "Persinger/Plys win 2022 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for mixed doubles curling". USA Curling. October 30, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
32. ^ "Walker/Stopera advance to 2022 U.S. Mixed Doubles national championship final". USA Curling. March 11, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
33. ^ a b "Sinclair, Larouche join St-Georges". Sports Illustrated. 30 March 2023.
34. ^ @TeamCareyCurl (August 12, 2022). "🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT: Hey @jamiesinclair21, ready to play?" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
35. ^ "Manotick curler Jamie Sinclair thriving with U.S. Rink | Ottawa Sun". 2016-12-14.
36. ^ "#stonestrawpod [S2E2] Jamie Sinclair (November 2018)". YouTube.
37. ^ "12 Athletes Come Together to Launch 2017 Women of Curling Calendar". Atlanta, Georgia: Aroundtherings.com. 16 October 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
38. ^ "Q&A with Jamie Sinclair". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
39. ^ "2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved February 9, 2024.[permanent dead link‍]
40. ^ a b "U18 Women – Past Champions". CurlON. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
41. ^ "Players' Championship live: Sinclair stuns Jones for title". Archived from the original on 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-15.

## External links

[edit]

* Jamie Sinclair at World Curling
* Jamie Sinclair at Team USA (archived)
* Team Sinclair Webpage
* Curl Up With Jamie webpage