Heather Mary Yvonne Kalenchuk (born Heather Seeley, March 14, 1984) 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 from

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

. She previously played lead for

Amber Holland Amber Holland (born July 10, 1974) is a Canadian curler from Loreburn, Saskatchewan. Holland skipped Saskatchewan's team to a national women's championship in 2011 by defeating defending champion Jennifer Jones in the Scotties Tournament of He ...

Career

Juniors

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Kalenchuk won the 2002 provincial high school mixed championship. In 2003, 2004 and 2005, she played in the provincial junior championship, but did not win. In 2005 and 2007, Kalenchuk played at the University national championships.

2005–2012

In 2008, the team won their only

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

event, the

2008 Players' Championships The 2008 Tylenol Players' Championship is the last Grand Slam event of both the World Curling Tour and Women's Curling Tour for the 2007–08 season. This was the sixteenth time the event has taken place, and the third time since it was switched ...

. In 2009 the team would earn a spot in the

Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, marketed from 2009 through 2017 as the Roar of the Rings, are a quadrennial tournament held by Curling Canada that determines the Canadian men's and women's representatives for curling at the Winter Olympics. T ...

, after defeating

Marie-France Larouche Marie-France Larouche (born June 5, 1980 in Lévis, Quebec) is a Canadian curler, who currently skips her own team out of the Club de curling Etchemin in Saint-Romuald, Quebec. In 2022 she won the World Mixed Curling Championship playing third ...

in the C Qualifier. The team would finish round robin with a 4–3 record, tied for third place. They would lose the second tiebreaker to

Krista McCarville Krista Lee McCarville (born Krista Lee Scharf on November 10, 1982) is a Canadian curler from Thunder Bay, Ontario. McCarville is a four-time Northern Ontario junior champion, the 2003 Winter Universiade silver medallist, a four-time Ontario p ...

in an extra end. Together the team played in their first

Saskatchewan Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Viterra Saskatchewan Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the Saskatchewan provincial women's curling tournament. The tournament is run by CURLSASK, the provincial curling association. The winning team represents Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tour ...

in 2008 and again in 2009. They would not find success until the 2010 Saskatchewan Scotties Tournament of Hearts, when they would finally break through and represent Saskatchewan at the

2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from January 30 to February 7 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The event was described as having a weaker field than normal, a ...

. They would miss the playoffs, finishing with a 6–5 record. The team would repeat as Saskatchewan champions in 2011. At the

2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 19 to February 27 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the 30th anniversary of Kruger P ...

, the team would finish round robin first with a 9-2 and advance to the playoffs. They would lose the 1–2 game to team Canada, before winning the semi-final, over team Ontario. In the final, they would again face team Canada (

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

), and this time would come out victorious, stealing the win in the 10th end, winning the Canadian Championship. This was the first time since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, that a team from Saskatchewan would win the National Championship. Together the team would win a silver medal at the

2011 Capital One World Women's Curling Championship The 2011 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as Capital One World Women's Curling Championship 2011 for sponsorship reasons) was held in Esbjerg, Denmark at the Granly Hockey Arena from March 19–27, 2011. The Swedish rink skipped by Anett ...

. Returning to the Scotties in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, the team was looking to repeat and win their second Canadian Championship, however they would finish the tournament with a disappointing 6-5 round robin record, failing to reach the playoffs. This was the first time since 2008, Team Canada did not reach the playoffs. After seven years of playing with her Canadian Championship winning team, Holland announced that she would leave her squad. Holland told her team she wants to go in another direction. Kalenchuk has since decided to step away from the game for a few years, leaving Kim Schneider and her sister Tammy Schneider pondering their curling future. This departure by Holland left the four players ineligible for $72,000 worth of federal funding earned from winning the

, and they will forfeit their spot earned in the Olympic Curling Pre-Trials.

Personal life

Kalenchuk is a French Immersion High School Teacher at

Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School is a Catholic secondary education institute located in the Coronation Park neighbourhood of north Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. It is officially designated as a commu ...

References

*''Saskatchewan Women's Curling Tour - Getting to know our Saskatchewan Women Curlers'' *''Extra End Magazine 2009-10'', pg 56
Hollandcurlingteam.com

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalenchuk, Heather 1984 births Living people Canadian schoolteachers Canadian women's curling champions Canadian women curlers Curlers from Regina, Saskatchewan Curlers from Edmonton Canada Cup (curling) participants