Colleen Patricia Jones
(born December 16, 1959) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
curler and
television personality
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six
Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an unprecedented four titles in a row and held the record for most Tournament of Hearts wins from when she won her 67th game 1994 until her eventual 152 wins were eclipsed by
Jennifer Jones in 2021.
Jones also serves as a reporter and weather presenter for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...
, and as a curling commentator for
NBC in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, particularly during the 2010
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
.
In 2018, Jones finished second to
Sidney Crosby
Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first o ...
in a listing of the greatest 15 athletes in Nova Scotia's history.
In 2019, she was named the third greatest Canadian curler in history in a
TSN
TSN may refer to:
Science and technology
* Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function
* Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System
* The Science Netwo ...
poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers.
Early career
Born in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native En ...
, Canada, from a family of curlers, at age 14, she joined the
Mayflower Curling Club The Mayflower Curling Club, which was founded in 1905, since 1962 has been located at 3000 Monaghan Drive in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality in Halifax.
The club is one of the premier curling rinks in Nova Scotia, being home to the ...
. She found success in competitive curling from an early age, playing skip for the
St. Patrick's High School curling team. She was only 19 years old when she won the first of her 16 Nova Scotia curling titles. That led to competing in the Canadian championships, where she finished second. Jones briefly attended Dalhousie University but never graduated, opting to start work in broadcasting in her native Halifax.
In 1982 she became the youngest skip, at age 22, ever to win the Canadian women's curling championship but career, marriage and a family slowed down her competitive curling. She joined
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
as a reporter in 1986 and went on to cover numerous summer and winter
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
. She continues to work for the CBC, and is currently a reporter for CBC Nova Scotia.
Broadcasting career
Jones began her broadcasting career in radio sports at
CHUM
Chum may refer to:
Broadcasting
* CHUM Limited, a defunct Canadian media company
* CHUM Radio, now Bell Media Radio, a Canadian radio broadcasting company
* CHUM (AM), a Toronto radio station
* CHUM-FM, a Toronto radio station
* CHUM Chart, a C ...
radio in 1982. She made the switch to television broadcasting in 1984 at CTV, and joined the CBC in 1986. Beginning in 1993, Jones has been the weather presenter and sports reporter for
CBC Morning News on
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
(now
CBC News Network). At the
2006 Torino Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...
, she did CBC segments about curling. Jones provided curling commentary for
NBC's coverage of the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
. She served as the sideline reporter for the curling events at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Jones starred in a
public service announcement about the
Canada 2006 Census. Jones appeared in the January 15, 2008 episode of ''
This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' for a skit titled MVC ''Most Valuable Curler''. She also co-hosts the online series ''That Curling Show'' with CBC journalist Devin Heroux.
Curling career
1999–2006
In 1999, with her new team of
Kim Kelly,
Mary Anne Waye (later Arsenault) and
Nancy Delahunt, Jones won the Canadian curling title for the second time. The team repeated this in 2001 and they went on to win the
World Curling Championship in
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...
,
Switzerland. They followed this up with another Canadian championship in 2002 and then won it for a record-setting fifth time at the
2004 Scott Tournament of Hearts. This made Jones the first skip to win four straight Canadian titles. From there the team went on to win their second World Curling Championship.
Their return at the
2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts was not as stellar. The team finished the round-robin at 6-5 and lost in a tie-breaker to Sandy Comeau of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...
. When this happened, the team got a standing ovation, which even halted play in the other game that was occurring two sheets over. The following year, the team was back in form, but bowed out in the semi-finals to
Jennifer Jones. At the end of the 2006 season, the team broke up. Jones joined the team of fellow Haligonian
Kay Zinck, as her third. The rest of the team got a new skip in
Laine Peters
2006–2008
After a short run playing third for
Kay Zinck during the 2006/2007 season, Jones went back to skipping. For the 2007/2008 season she would add Olympic bronze medallist
Georgina Wheatcroft to her team along with
Kate Hamer Kate name may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer
* Lauren Kate (born 1981), American auth ...
and
Darah Provencal. At the end of the season Jones would retire from competitive curling.
2010–2011
Colleen Jones announced on March 24, 2010 on
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...
that she would be again returning to competitive curling. Having been present for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a spark ignited in her, and she once again wanted to make another run for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
For the 2010/2011 season, Jones was recruited by
Heather Smith-Dacey,
Blisse Comstock
Blisse Joyce (born March 6, 1983 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia as Blisse Comstock) is a Canadian curler from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She is a former Canadian Junior curling champion. She currently plays for Team Jill Brothers.
Career
In 2003, Joyce ...
and
Teri Lake, to take over skipping duties, when former skip
Jill Mouzar moved to Ontario. Just as Jones was due to begin her competitive curling comeback, days before beginning the playdowns for the
Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, It was announced on December 10, 2010 that Jones was diagnosed with
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion ...
. Jones turned over skipping duties to
Heather Smith-Dacey, and brought in
Danielle Parsons
Danielle Barbara Parsons (born January 29, 1990) is a Canadian curler from Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Career
Parsons was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and made her first national curling debut at the 2008 Canadian Junior Curling Championsh ...
to play at third. Smith-Dacey's team won the Nova Scotia title, and then went on to win the bronze medal at the 2011 Scotties. Jones was able to return to competition after recovering from her illness, and won the 2011 Nova Scotia Senior Women's Championship on February 27.
2011–present
For the 2011-2012, Jones recruited a new squad, originally consisting of
Kristen MacDiarmid Kristen may refer to:
* Kristen (given name), includes a list of people with the name
* ITC Kristen, a typeface created by George Ryan for the International Typeface Corporation (ITC)
*"Kristen", the alias used by Ashley Alexandra Dupré, a ce ...
,
Helen Radford
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen ...
and
Mary Sue Radford, all of whom previous played with
Theresa Breen. Later in the season, she modified her team adding former teammate
Nancy Delahunt to third, and
Marsha Sobey
Marsha is a variant spelling of Marcia. Notable people with the name include:
* Marsha Ambrosius (born 1977), former member of the English band duo Floetry
*Marsha Arzberger (born 1937), Democratic politician
*Marsha Barbour, first lady of the U ...
to second.
Mary Sue Radford remained at lead. Delahunt and Sobey were members of Jones' Senior women's champion team. After failing to qualify for the provincial
2012 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The 2012 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Nova Scotia's women's provincial curling championship, was held from January 25 to 29 at the CFB Halifax Curling Club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The winning team of Heather Smith-Dacey, represented ...
, Jones and her senior team of Delahunt, Sobey and
Sally Saunders, participated in the 2012 Nova Scotia Women's Senior Championships. They made it to the final, where they defeated
Colleen Pinkney
Colleen Pinkney (born Colleen Marshall) is a Canadian curler from Truro, Nova Scotia. She is a 2009 and 2013 Canadian Senior champion skip and a two-time provincial senior champion. She won the World Senior Curling Championships in 2010.
Caree ...
6-4 to win back-to-back seniors championships, qualifying for the National senior finals. With Delahunt skipping, and Jones throwing last stones, the team represented Nova Scotia at the
2012 Canadian Senior Curling Championships
The 2012 Canadian Senior Curling Championships were held from March 17 to 25 at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia. British Columbia last hosted the Canadian Seniors in 2004, and has previously hosted 6 Canadian Senio ...
, where they lost in the semi-final to Newfoundland and Labrador's
Cathy Cunningham
Cathy Cunningham (born December 30, 1959 in St. John's, Newfoundland) is a Canadian curler.
Career
Cunningham played in her first Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling championship, in 1988 as a third for Maria Thomas. The ...
.
For the 2012-2013 season Jones reunited with
Mary-Anne Arsenault and
Kim Kelly, with the goal of reaching the
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...
in
Sochi,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. Jones threw second stones on the team, while acting as the rink's vice skip, or "mate" while Arsenault skips.
The Arsenault-skipped team won the
2013 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The 2013 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the women's provincial curling championship for Nova Scotia, was held from January 23 to 27 at the Halifax Curling Club in Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax, Nova Scotia. The winning Mary-Ann ...
, and qualified for the
2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toront ...
. They finished the event with a 5-6 record.
[curling.ca, coverage of 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts]
Jones has appeared in 4
Canadian Senior Curling Championships
The Canadian Senior Curling Championships are an annual bonspiel held to determine the national champions in senior curling for Canada. Seniors are defined as being people over the age of 50. The championship teams play at the World Senior Curling ...
(2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016.) She finished with a bronze medal at the 2012 Championships, and a silver medal at the 2015 Championships. She won her first Canadian Seniors in 2016 and represented Canada at the
2017 World Senior Curling Championships
The 2017 World Senior Curling Championships was held from April 22 to 29 at the Lethbridge Curling Club in Lethbridge, Alberta. The event was held in conjunction with the 2017 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship
The 2017 World Mixed Double ...
in
Lethbridge, Alberta where her rink went through the event undefeated to win the world title.
Career highlights
Colleen Jones is a member of the
Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario.
The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose induc ...
and the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.
* World Curling Champion: 2001, 2004
* Canadian Curling Champion: 1982, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
* Canadian Mixed Curling Champion: 1993, 1999
* World Senior Curling Champion: 2017
* Canadian Senior Curling Champion: 2016
She was appointed to the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the c ...
in 2022.
[
]
Personal life
Jones is married to Scott Saunders and has two children.
Grand Slam record
Former events
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Colleen
1959 births
Living people
Canadian women curlers
Canadian women's curling champions
Canadian mixed curling champions
Canadian people of Welsh descent
Canadian television meteorologists
Canadian television sportscasters
CBC Television people
Curling broadcasters
Dalhousie University alumni
World curling champions
Women sports announcers
Continental Cup of Curling participants
20th-century Canadian journalists
21st-century Canadian journalists
Canada Cup (curling) participants
Curlers from Nova Scotia
Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canadian women television personalities
20th-century Canadian women
Members of the Order of Canada