Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
, 1 Feb 1988, pg B8, "Rookie skip wins" (Houston was 28) 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 ...
Red Rock, Ontario
Red Rock is a township in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located in the Thunder Bay District. The community of Red Rock sits on the shore of Lake Superior, about 16 km west of the Nipigon River where it drains into Nipigon Bay on the north sh ...
and curls out of the Fort William Curling Club in
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
Curling career
Houston won the 1988 and 1991
Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the Ontario provincial curling championship for women's curling. The tournament is run by CurlON, the curling association for Southern Ontario. The winning team represents Team Ontario at the national S ...
, skipping her team.
She made her Scotties debut at the 1988
Scott Tournament of Hearts
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...
. The team had to win two tie-breakers before winning two playoff games to claim the championship. They defeated the defending champion
Pat Sanders
Pat Sanders (born c. 1954 in Neepawa, Manitoba) is a Canadian curler and world champion from Victoria, British Columbia.
Championships
Sanders became world champion in 1987 with the Canadian team.1988 World Championships, the team won the silver medal, losing to Germany's
Andrea Schöpp
Andrea Schöpp (born 27 February 1965) is a German curler from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. She lectures part-time in statistics at the University of Munich.
Career
Schöpp is a two-time World champion ( and ), seven-time European champion (, , , ...
in the final. The Hearts victory gave them a berth at the
1989 Scott Tournament of Hearts
The 1989 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 25 to March 4, 1989 at the Kelowna Memorial Arena in Kelowna, British Columbia. The total attendance for the week was 19,436.
The de ...
. The team would go on to win that as well. They had to win three playoff games before beating Chris More of Manitoba in the final.
At the 1989 World Championships, they avenged their silver medal by defeating Trine Trulsen of Norway in the final. Their Hearts victory in 1989 qualified them for the
1990 Scott Tournament of Hearts
The 1990 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 24 to March 3, 1990, at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The total attendance for the week was 29,042.
Team Ontario, who ...
.
She received bronze at the
Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...
in 1990 and 1991.
She was Champion skip at the 1996
TSN Skins Game
The TSN All-Star Curling Skins Game is an annual curling bonspiel hosted by The Sports Network. " Skins" curling had been developed as a way to make curling more interesting on TV during the time before the free guard zone rule was implemented. T ...
.
Awards
Heather Houston received the
Velma Springstead Trophy The Velma Springstead Trophy is an award presented annually to Canada's outstanding female athlete. It is named in honour of track athlete Velma Springstead whose career ended prematurely when she died from pneumonia in 1927 when only 20 years old ...
in 1989.
The Houston team was inducted into the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. This same year they were also inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame.
Personal life
In 1988, Houston was a graphic artist with the
Lakehead Board of Education Lakehead can refer to:
Geographic
* The head of Lake Superior (and of the Great Lakes), typically referring to the Thunder Bay–Duluth region
* Lakehead, California, a census-designated place
* Lakehead-Lakeshore, California, a former census-desi ...
. She is the daughter of Tom and Florence Houston.