With less than a month to go until the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team Einarson has revealed its lineup — and Briane Harris is not a part of it.
Harris won four consecutive Scotties as a lead with the team, however, she has not curled with Team Einarson since she was abruptly suspended due to a doping violation.
After 11 months off the ice with the team, Harris finally received her Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal ruling earlier this month and was cleared to play after being found not at fault.
Harris is six months pregnant but has expressed a desire to get back with the team and compete in the Scotties.
In an interview with CBC Sports, skip Kerri Einarson was emotional as she discussed the decision to leave Harris off the roster.
“It’s been extremely tough for all of us having to make this really, really difficult choice. We had to make this decision coming into the new year,” Einarson said.
“It was unfortunate that we had to wait so long. We had to make this decision and have consistency. Without being able to contact Briane and chat with her, it was extremely difficult. I feel horrible.”
To complicate matters, second Shannon Birchard is out with a knee injury. It left the team scrambling to find replacements throughout the season.
But now the lineup is set – Krysten Karwacki is in at lead, newly acquired Karlee Burgess will play second in place of Birchard, Val Sweeting stays at third and Einason is skipping. A fifth player has also been secured. The team will be announcing that at a later date.
‘We had to get our roster in’
When asked if Harris was considered for that alternate position, Einarson said they needed to make a decision on that as well before the appeal ruling was made.
“We couldn’t wait. We had to get our roster in. We need jerseys. We couldn’t hold off. We needed to mentally prepare for that,” Einarson said.
“All year we set timelines for ourselves of what to do. It was so hard. We had no control over when the decision was going to come out. We would set time limits each month and how we would approach things.”
Harris declined to comment on the decision when contacted by CBC Sports. Einarson says she talked to Harris on Monday to tell her the team’s decision.
“She wasn’t happy about it, obviously. She wants to get back to curling. We definitely aren’t shutting any doors. This is just for this season. We’re not closing any doors,” Einarson said.
“We’re going to revisit things after this season. I hope we can get to a good place and I know she’s upset with us. I get emotional talking about this because Briane is my person. She is a great teammate.”
Team Einarson won four consecutive Scotties from 2020 to 2023. They were preparing to try and make it five straight but on the eve of last year’s event learned of Harris being suspended for a doping violation.
Harris then appealed, saying she was unknowingly exposed to it through bodily contact. The appeal was made at the end of last August and it was the understanding of Harris and her legal team that they would get a decision in October at the latest.
But it dragged out until Jan. 14.
That delay triggered a number of decisions made by Team Einarson.
“Things would have been a lot different. It’s really too bad it took this long. I don’t think any of us deserve that and it’s been extremely challenging.”
The Scotties begins Friday, Feb. 14 and runs until Sunday, Feb. 23 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
