By Kristina Rutherford
At Christina Black's home in Halifax, you'll find what the Nova Scotia-born skip calls "my little 'I love me' shelf." It holds evidence of her most coveted curling memories, including a pair of Scotties bronze medals and a silver from last year's Olympic Trials, which were held in the very city Black calls home.
Now that this season is underway, the 38-year-old is looking to add more hardware to that self-love shelf.
Black is competing with a slightly new-look team, too: Jill Brothers remains at third, but front-end shakeups were required after second Jenn Baxter stepped away from competitive curling, and lead Karlee Everist became the team’s alternate since she’s due this month with her second child. Former alternate Marlee Powers now plays regularly at second, while Lindsey Burgess is the new lead.
Team Black guided Nova Scotia to a bronze medal at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The 2026-27 roster is eyeing another shot at a national title, but months before that, they'll have the unique opportunity to play in an event that’s as local as can be for the skip from Sydney. From Nov. 17-22, Sydney’s Centre 200 on the east coast of Cape Breton Island will play host to the Grand Slam of Curling National, the third of five events on the GSOC calendar.
Black caught up with The Curling Group to talk about the upcoming bonspiel in her hometown, why Burgess is a perfect fit for her rink, the reason she’s taken more selfies with strangers than ever in the last year, and the costumes she’s hoping her family members sport while cheering her team on next month at the GSOC National.
THE CURLING GROUP: Is there an event on your calendar coming up that’s circled the biggest of all?
BLACK: Oh, the Grand Slam in Sydney is circled with a big old bright pen. [Laughs]. We're really looking forward to that. Personally, for me, being from Sydney, it's going to be amazing to get to play at Centre 200, something I've always wanted to do, so I can’t wait.
Anytime you get to play in a Grand Slam, it’s awesome, but it’s especially awesome since we'll get to play in front of the hometown crowd. Cape Breton's the best, and the people are so amazing. I'm biased, but it's true, like, they are the best people. [Laughs]. The crowd will want to have fun, so they'll be into all the games with lots of cheering, and it'll be a great atmosphere.
This will be your first time playing a big event on the Centre 200 ice, right?
Yeah, I haven’t played there, so this is my chance. Unfortunately, I didn't qualify for the Scotties when it was there [in 2019]. We lost the provincial final. It was very devastating for me at the time, and Jill got to go instead.
Have you forgiven Jill for that? She’s a pretty good teammate now …
[Laughs.] Oh yeah, it definitely was not her fault that we didn’t win. And Jill’s the best teammate we could ask for. I’m happy we get to play together on that ice this time.
And I’m so excited to have my whole team there — it’ll be the first time we’re all in Sydney together. I’m going to have them in my hometown, so I get to be the one who shows them around and tells them about all the great local stuff.
What’s some of that great local stuff you'll tell teammates and visitors about?
There are so many awesome spots and great views and nothing’s too far away. If you’re in Sydney, you can literally drive to a beach in 15 minutes, and it’s a beautiful beach. And right down on the waterfront, the boardwalk’s really nice.
And there are amazing hikes — like, so many. November is a little late in the season to be going out on some of them, but there are tons up in the highlands. You’d have to drive a little bit to get to them, a couple hours. But local in Sydney, one of my favourites is the Coxheath Mountain Trail. It's a short but intense climb.
What’s your favourite local restaurant? Bar?
When I’m home, I don’t go out to eat much because my favourite spot is my mom’s kitchen and her cooking. But you’ve got the Flavor on the Water, and that’s a great restaurant. And then right outside the restaurant, you’ve got the biggest fiddle in the world.
Breton Crafthouse just opened downtown, too. Breton is a local brewery, and they've been around for a long time, but they’re a bit outside the city. So, they opened a little spot downtown last Christmas, and it's awesome. It's such a cool spot, and they've got some great beer.
What’s your beer of choice: IPAs?
I'm more of a light lager type gal.
How many family members will be in the crowd over the course of the GSOC National, do you think?
Ooh, I’m a bad estimator … but probably around 50. I have a lot of family, and I know they're all really excited to come. My parents will be there, and my brother and my sister-in-law, and my two nieces.
There were 14 kids in my dad’s family, and then my mom's has eight, so a lot of my aunts and uncles will be there and a lot of my cousins and then their kids, so there are a lot of people to draw from.
Wait … your dad has 13 siblings?
Yeah. [Laughs.] I couldn't imagine growing up in that house. Every year we have a big reunion, the Black Family Reunion, and I help plan it, and it's really fun. A lot of them were at the Trials [last November, in Halifax], and they loved it so much. They're all planning how they want to come to the event in Sydney, too.
Will they be wearing matching T-shirts?
Yeah, they'll have their "Black Magic" shirts on, I imagine. And "Bet on Black" shirts they all made for the Trials, so I'm sure you'll see those in the crowd. I'm going to try and convince some of them to get banana costumes because I love the bananas and I hope some of them will join in on trend.
"Peel, peel, peel!"
Yeah, and actually, I also love the crayons. I should talk to them about getting some crayon suits. "Draw, draw, draw!" [Laughs]. Last year in Saskatoon, Sofia Scharback’s family had the crayons on, and it was adorable.
Have you seen curling fandom grow in Nova Scotia since your team went on that run at Olympic Trials, less than a year ago now?
Yeah, it is less than a year ago! I think we’re definitely more recognizable out in public.
People know us and are always so happy to stop and be like, "You're so great, we love cheering for you!" And telling us how much fun they had, that they came to the Trials — it’s pretty neat. I get recognized really frequently.
It's always nice to hear from someone who enjoys watching curling and wants to talk about curling or just wish us well. I’m always happy to hear that, but it definitely surprises me sometimes when I’m out in sweatpants and a baseball hat, and someone recognizes me. Like, how could you tell who I was? But OK, thank you. [Laughs].
Have you posed for more selfies with strangers in the last year than your entire life before that?
Oh yeah, definitely. And I’m happy to do it.
How would you describe what making the Olympic Trials final was like in your home province?
Oh, it was surreal — to have that experience at home, to ride all of those emotions from the crowd. Those are moments that we’ll carry forever.
During the final game [against Rachel Homan], when I went to throw my last shot, even though we knew the game was over and we were going to be shaking [hands], the standing ovation from the crowd was unbelievable. Seriously, just thinking about it, I tear up and get chills.
And now you get to play an event right at home. What’s your team’s goal at the GSOC National?
I would love to go there and win a couple games, get ourselves into the playoffs and play as long as we can. We want to give that crowd as many games to watch us as possible.
The season's young, but how have you felt about your team’s early play?
It's been really good. We played a couple of events [last month, in Ontario] and we didn't make the playoffs, but learned a lot and worked on a lot of things. There was really a lot of positive stuff out of every game we had. I can see the amazing potential we have to do really well and be able to win a lot of games.
What does Lindsey Burgess bring to the team dynamic?
Oh my gosh, she's so fun. We've been working out together through the spring and summer in the gym and then on the ice now since the curling season has started, and she's got so much energy. She's the young one on the squad [she’s 27], you know, born a lot later than the rest of us. [Laughs]. So she brings a new dynamic.
And she’s a local. Your team brought her back home to play, right?
Yes, she's from Nova Scotia, from around the Truro area. We’ve all known her a long time.
Marlee played with her before, and then Lindsey went to Edmonton to play for a couple of seasons. Now she’s back, which is awesome. It’s great to bring some of our talented athletes back home.
She and Karlee [Burgess, her cousin who’s the second for Team Einarson] are both fantastic athletes. The Burgess family is pretty famous in the curling circles of Nova Scotia. Lindsey and Karlee’s dads are awesome curlers, and their uncle, their grandparents — the whole family.
They’re kind of Nova Scotia’s curling royal family, really, and Karlee and Lindsey are very similar. Both are so strong, incredible sweepers, good at multiple sports growing up.
And Lindsey is a geologist, so it was probably a no-brainer to add her to the team?
Yeah. [Laughs]. Curling rocks, regular rocks, the girl loves rocks. She’s an expert on them.
With the GSOC National coming up, can you describe what it means to you to get to play the sport you love on the biggest stage, right in your hometown?
Oh, it's so special. It's such a great opportunity and it's going to feel so full circle for me to play in a Grand Slam at home. People get to come see and be like, "Oh, this is what she does. This is really cool."
And it feels like a long time coming. Basically, since the Scotties were announced that they were going to be at Centre 200 in 2019, I've been wishing that I'd be able to play on that ice ...
This summer, I had my high school reunion and got to see some people I hadn't seen in a really long time, and they were all like, "Oh my gosh, you're actually doing it, you're living your dream that you talked about growing up!" Because I always talked about curling when I was little. So, that was pretty exciting, and then I got to tell them I was going to come to Centre 200, so they better come and watch.
TICKETS: Full-event, weekend and day passes plus single draw tickets are now available for the GSOC National. Visit GSOCtickets.com to purchase yours today.
