First Nation teen follows in mother’s footsteps playing at national curling championship

Most of Sydney Galusha’s friends and classmates are in Yellowknife this week writing exams.

But Galusha, who is Gwich’in, finds herself in the Ontario city of Mississauga competing in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Galusha is making her second consecutive Scotties appearance even though she is just 16. She is playing second for the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) squad, which represents the Yellowknife Curling Club and is skipped by Nicky Kaufman.

Kaufman’s squad includes two other teenagers, Brynn Chorostkowski, who is also 16, and 17-year-old Ella Skauge.

“I had to take my exams early to come here this week,” said Galusha, a Grade 11 student at Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife.

A total of 18 clubs are participating at this year’s Scotties, which began on Jan. 23 and continues to Feb. 1.

The eventual champs will go on to represent Canada at the world women’s curling tournament, which will begin March 14 in Calgary.

Galusha made her Scotties debut at the 2025 event held in Thunder Bay, Ont. The N.W.T. rink was skipped by Galusha’s mother Kerry, a legend in Canadian curling circles who played in the Scotties a total of 22 times.

The elder Galusha is now serving as the coach of the N.W.T. entry at this year’s nationals.

“Last year was really special curling with my mom,” said Sydney. “And this year is also special because I'm still playing on a team with her. It's pretty similar, honestly. Last year she kind of just led our team. And she's doing it again this year.”

Kerry Galusha is pleased she is making her coaching debut at this year’s Scotties.

“It’s pretty cool,” she said. “It’s basically the same team I played with last year with a new skip. They kind of know how I operate. And it’s pretty neat to be here with them.”

But she originally was not keen to accept an offer to coach the squad.

“They had a new skip and I just wanted them to kind of do their own thing, get their own sponsors, do their own planning,” she said. “Even when I was the skip, I was often the organizer and I was the bossy one deciding what we're going to do and what we're not going to do. So, then I just kind of wanted them to be their own team.”

But those plans changed.

“In the end, they needed some help with sponsorship and stuff,” Kerry Galusha said. “So, then I ended up coming on. It's been okay since. And we're here (at the nationals). So, it's great.”

But coaching, as opposed to playing, has been a different experience.

“I didn't think it was going to be that different,” Kerry Galusha said. “But it's really weird.”

Especially during N.W.T.’s tournament-opening match versus Ontario on Jan. 23.

“I don't even know why I felt weird,” she said. “You just get to sit there and watch and take it all in. When I used to curl, I'd be so zoned in on our sheet and never looked around. And (Friday) I was looking around and being distracted. It was a lot of fun. But it was very different for me.”

Kerry Galusha recalled she was 19 when she made her first Scotties appearance back in 1998. Her daughter was four years younger when she competed at last year’s tournament.

The N.W.T. rink posted a 3-5 round-robin record at the 2025 Scotties.

Sydney Galusha said her squad this year has simple goals.

“I think we want to keep every game as close as we can and try and put some pressure on some of these top teams,” she said. “And hopefully come out with some more wins.”

The squad saw its record fall to 1-2 on Jan. 26 when N.W.T. was edged 6-5 by a Saskatchewan rink in a morning draw. 

Sydney and her teammates were also scheduled to play another game on Jan. 26, starting at 7 p.m. EST, versus a British Columbia club.

Sydney doesn’t have to fret what to call her mother when she’s around her teammates at the rink. Surprisingly, she doesn’t call her Coach. Or Mom. Or Kerry. 

“She actually calls me Kathy,” said her mother. That’s because a tournament program from a few years ago mistakenly referred to her as Kathy Galusha.

“And it's just been a big joke since,” she said. “There's even a Twitter (now called X) account called Kathy Galusha. It's just a big joke and now that's what my daughter calls me.”