Shannon Birchard

Shannon Birchard (born May 11, 1994 in Winnipeg, Manitoba[2]) is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She currently plays second on Kerri Einarson's team in Gimli, Manitoba, winning the national title with her at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Birchard previously won the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts with Jennifer Jones when she filled for Kaitlyn Lawes who was competing at the PyeongChang Olympics. She would win a world championship as the alternate member of the Jones team that same year when they won the event in North Bay in 2018.

Shannon Birchard
Curler
Born (1994-05-11) May 11, 1994
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Team
Curling clubThistle CC,[1]
Winnipeg, MB
SkipKerri Einarson
ThirdVal Sweeting
SecondShannon Birchard
LeadBriane Meilleur
AlternateJennifer Clark-Rouire
Mixed doubles
partner		Catlin Schneider
Career
Member Association Manitoba
Hearts appearances2 (2018, 2020)
World Championship
appearances		1 (2018)
Top CTRS ranking1st (2019–20)
Grand Slam victories1 (2019 Players')
Medal record
Women's Curling
Representing  Canada
World Championships
2018 North Bay
Representing  Manitoba
Scotties Tournament of Hearts
2018 Penticton
2020 Moose Jaw

Career

Juniors

Birchard won two provincial junior championships in her junior career, in 2012 and 2013 as a skip.[3] At the 2012 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, Birchard led her team of Selena Kaatz, Kristin MacCuish and Mariah Mondor to a 10-2 round robin record, giving her rink a bye to the finals, where she lost to Alberta's Jocelyn Peterman. At the 2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, she led her team of Nicole Sigvaldason, Sheyna Andries and Mondor to a 9–1 record before the playoffs. There, she won the semifinal game against Ontario's Jamie Sinclair before losing in the final to Corryn Brown's British Columbia rink. She was not able to defend her Manitoba title in 2014 or in 2015, when she lost in the final.

Women's

After failing to win a third provincial junior title, Birchard played in her first women's provincial championship (the Manitoba Scotties) in 2014 with Nicole Sigvaldason, Kelsey Boettcher and Megan Sigvaldason. The team finished the tournament with a 1–6 record.

Birchard returned to the Manitoba Scotties in 2016 with her 2013 junior team. There, she found more success, making the playoffs after posting a 6–1 record. In the playoffs she beat Cathy Overton-Clapham, but then lost in the semifinal to Kerri Einarson.

Her team played in the 2017 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, again making the playoffs after winning a tiebreaker game after a 4–3 record. However, she would lose to Darcy Robertson in their only playoff game. Birchard won the Manitoba Mixed doubles title that year[4] and played in the 2017 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with partner Jason Gunnlaugson. They went 5–2 after group play, but were eliminated in the round of 12 against Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff.

Birchard and her team began the 2017-18 curling season by winning the 2017 Colonial Square Ladies Classic, after beating defending Olympic champion Jennifer Jones in the final. She played vice for Jones on Team Manitoba at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with Jones' regular vice Kaitlyn Lawes absent in preparation for the mixed doubles tournament of the 2018 Winter Olympics.[5] They would go on to win the Scotties after defeating fellow Manitoban, Kerri Einarson in the final. After the win Birchard said that "It's pretty unbelievable. I don't even have words right now, I'm speechless. I'm so overjoyed and so happy that they chose me to come along. This has been a dream of mine for a really long time."[6] With Lawes returning to the team following the Olympics, Birchard became the alternate for Team Canada at the 2018 World Women's Curling Championship. In their matches against the Czech and Italian teams, Birchard had a chance to play in the second half, replacing Lawes and Jill Officer in each of their games well under control.[7][8] She had a chance to play a full game, replacing Officer in their match against Japan.[8] The team went undefeated through the whole tournament, winning the extra-end final against the reigning Olympic champions, Team Hasselborg of Sweden.[9]

For the 2018-19 curling season, Birchard joined a new team with Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, and Briane Meilleur, all former skips.[10] They began the season by winning three straight World Curling Tour events in three weeks: the 2018 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the inaugural Morris SunSpiel and then the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic[11] with a fourth win at the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Classic in October.[10] In December, the team lost in the finals of the 2018 Canada Cup and 2018 National. Their strong play during the early part of the season earned them enough points to put team Einarson in the Wild Card game at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. However the team lost to the lower ranked Casey Scheidegger rink. The team would rebound to have a strong finish at the end of the season, winning the 2019 Players' Championship and losing in the final of the 2019 Champions Cup.

Team Einarson had two playoff finishes at the first two Slams of the 2019–20 season, losing to Anna Hasselborg in the quarterfinal of the Masters and once again to Hasselborg in the final of the Tour Challenge. The team did not have the same success at the Canada Cup as they did in 2018, finishing with a 2–4 record. However, at the 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, her team succeeded. They finished the round robin and championship round with a 7–1 record which qualified them for the final. In the final, they defeated Jennifer Jones. It was Birchard's first Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial title. Team Einarson represented Manitoba at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, where they continued their success. They finished first in the round robin with a 9–2 record and then won the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game, qualifying them for the final. Birchard would win her first Canadian Championship when they defeated Rachel Homan 8–7 in and extra end.[12] Birchard was named the All-Star Second for the tournament. The team was set to represent Canada at the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship before the event got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] The Scotties would be their last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[15]

Personal life

Birchard attended the University of Winnipeg. She is a self-employed bookkeeper.[16]

gollark: I'll just Google it when I actually need to do it.
gollark: I know roughly what it is, I just have no idea how to implement it.
gollark: Probably just needs comments.
gollark: I mean, if the variable names were longer, would you understand it?
gollark: <@111572502722920448> How do you do "software hitboxing"?

References
  1. "Shannon Birchard profile". Curling Canada. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
  2. 2017 Home Hardware RTTR Media Guide
  3. http://23009-presscdn.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Manitoba-Honour-Roll.pdf
  4. "Gunnlaugson, Birchard win mixed doubles provincials". Interlake Spectator. February 9, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  5. "Jennifer Jones recruits Shannon Birchard to play national curling championship". CBC News. January 16, 2018.
  6. "Jennifer Jones claims record-tying 6th Scotties championship". CBC Sports. February 4, 2018.
  7. "Alternate Shannon Birchard makes surprise appearance as Jones wins twice at worlds | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  8. "Minus Jill Officer, Canada clinches top spot at World Women's Curling Championships". Ottawa Sun. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  9. "Jennifer Jones leads Canada to world women's curling championship title | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  10. Spencer, Donna (9 October 2018). "Canadian women's rink proving 4 skips as good — or better — than 1". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  11. "WCT Recap: Team Einarson keeps rolling with third win of season - TSN.ca". TSN. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  12. Donna Spencer (February 23, 2020). "Kerri Einarson wins Canadian women's curling championship". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press.
  13. The Canadian Press (March 12, 2020). "World Women's Curling Championship Cancelled". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  14. "World Women's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Prince George, Canada". World Curling Federation. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  15. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  16. "2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
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