Team Black earns silver on home ice at Olympic curling trials, Homan to represent Canada in Italy

Christina Black’s Nova Scotian team finished second at the 2025 Canadian Olympic curling trials at Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre, losing to Team Rachel Homan in the final and narrowly missing a spot at the Olympics.

Black competes out of the Halifax Curling Club on a five-player squad that includes Karlee Everist at lead, Jennifer Baxter at second and Jill Brothers as vice-skip. Marlee Powers is the team’s alternate, and they’re coached by Stuart MacLean.

Despite a 0-2 start at the trials, Team Black bounced back to win four of their next five games. Black finished the round robin with a 4-3 record, ending in a three-way tie for third place with Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes and Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay. Black had the tie breaker, earning her team a berth to the event’s semifinal.

“We came into this thing believing we could get the third spot in the playoffs,” said Black. “We never gave up believing, and we did it.”

Black’s squad formed in 2024 when Brothers joined Black, Baxter and Everist, later bringing on Powers as their alternate. They found success quickly, earning a bronze medal at the 2025 Scotties tournament.

Playoffs

The semifinal put Black in a rematch against Kerri Einarson’s team out of Gimli, Man., who defeated Black 12-5 earlier in the week. A three-point ninth end helped Black’s team to a 6-3 victory. It was the first win of Black’s career against Einarson.

“We started out so poorly against [Einarson] this week … we couldn’t read the ice. We were bad,” said Brothers. “It was such a different team [in the second game] and to win that here in front of everyone was really awesome.”

Black then faced Homan’s Ottawa squad in a best-of-three final. The first game was an intense back-and-forth battle. Black attempted a difficult in-off for the win, missing and handing Homan a 5-4 victory.

The second game was more one-sided, as Homan picked up four points in the third end and cruised to a 12-3 victory.

Canada will send Homan’s team, along with Brad Jacobs’ Calgary, Alta. team to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy, hoping to clinch gold for Canada in both the women’s and men’s events for the first time since 2014.

Though the finals didn’t go Black’s way, the crowd never stopped cheering for their hometown heroes.

“They were so fun,” Black said after the second game of the finals, reflecting on the crowd of over 7,000 fans cheering her team on. 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever play in front of a crowd that large again. It was really special, and I know that’s something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”

Loss of a Legend

On Nov. 25, just a few days into the Olympic trials, Canadian curling lost a legend when Colleen Jones passed away after a battle with cancer. She was 65.

The Halifax native will be remembered as one of the greatest to grace the ice in Canadian curling. Jones set new standards for female curlers, winning six Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles, including four in a row from 2001 to 2004. She also won two world titles, in 2001 and 2004, and a world senior championship — for curlers over 50 years of age — in 2017.

“She was from Nova Scotia, and she was a champion,” said Black on Tuesday following Jones’ passing. “I was like, ‘I could do that. I want to do that. I want to be like her.’”

Jones’ son Luke Saunders sat in a skybox for game two of the trials’ final, cheering on his fiancée Powers and the rest of Team Black. He led the crowd in “Team Black” chants and sang Randy Newman’s song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” at the top of his lungs.

“I never know what he’s going to say, but he’s here, and he supports us so much,” said Powers. “He’s our number one fan. I know the girls love it, and I do too.”

Ahead of the women’s evening games on the day she passed, Curling Canada honoured Jones’ life and legacy with a video tribute and a moment of silence, as her family joined the players on the ice.

Moving forward

Black’s team will now turn their attention to the Scotties tournament, which they already qualified for based on their 2024-25 Canadian Team Ranking System results.

The Scotties will be held in Mississauga, Ont., beginning Jan. 23, 2026.