Father daughter curling team from Vernon win first two games at national trials

Photo: Curling Canada

Team Cotter at the National Trials

A father-daughter curling duo from Vernon have won their first two games at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Nova Scotia.

Jim Cotter, 50, and Jaelyn Cotter, 24, are currently in Liverpool, Nova Scotia playing for an opportunity to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

At the duo's opening game on Monday, Jim fired a 94 per cent game – something exceptionally high for mixed doubles curling. The Cotters walked away from their first game with a 9-4 win, and went on to win their second game as well 7-5.

“It's emotional,” said Jaelyn about the opening win. “We’ve been playing together since 2016 and we’ve come long and far. We’ve worked so hard to get here and we’re just so happy to be here and we feel like we really deserved it. It’s so exciting being able to play with my dad. Like, there aren’t many sports that you can even do that so it’s really special. It's really special."

Jim echoed Jaelyn's sentiment, saying the opening win tops the highlight list on his long curling career. His accolades include 10 Brier Purple Hearts – a crest national champs wear on their jacket – a silver medal from the 2013 Canadian Curling Trials final in Winnipeg, and playing on the B.C. national team 13 times.

At the first game, Jim had to face off with his longtime men’s teammate Tyrel Griffith, with whom he's played at six Briers.

“Well, I’m glad it was the first game and not the last game in the round robin,” said Jim. “He’s like a little brother to me. So yeah, it’s tough playing friends like that but we’re both competitors and once we get out there, we’re here to win some games and put ourselves in a good position.”

Jim says the pair started the season with self-added pressure, and focused the last few events back to having fun. Jaelyn says that’s the team’s big thing – to have fun.

“Play like we can, and learn the draw weight as soon as possible because the draws are so important, especially for my first shot. You just have to nail it every time,” said Jaelyn.

The 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials continue through Jan. 4.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials are available online.

Streaming for the trials is available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.