Meet the Team – Junior Women

With the World Junior B Championships in full swing with the men’s competition underway, we thought it a good time to introduce the junior women who’ll be taking to the ice in a few days to do England proud!

This team really does have some great experience on its side, starting with their coach, Michael Opel. Michael is a well known face in English Curling, with appearances for England in various European A and B events, a World Qualification Event, and a handful of Mixed Doubles – to rattle off but a few. Ever the animated character on the ice, his coaching style is cool, calm, and collected. He’s got plenty of experience to pass down!

The fifth player is Phoenix Davies, a curler who’s donned the red and white for the WJBCC in 2022 and 2023. In addition to all that, they’ve played across various Asham slams and the International Junior Club Bonspiel in Ayr last year- Pheonix even has an English Schools title to their name, so don’t let anyone tell you they’ve not got the experience for a Worlds – stepping out on to that ice at a world championship always feels like a dream made real to Phoenix, and we know exactly how that feels! Whilst Phoenix will be there as fifth, we know that their experience will go a long way to helping this team throughout the week.

Phoenix is also a lover of the arts, studying French and Pyschology at Dundee University (where I hear there’s still some curling to be had!) as well as making and painting crafts and playing music. That kind of cheery attitude will do the team well in the cold and dark of Kisakallio, for sure!

Then we’ve got Marianna Ward at lead Marianna has represented England before as well, at last year’s WJBCC. She got into curling with a friend who was trying out almost any winter sport he could think off, with Marianna tagging along. When she went along to try curling, something clicked and she just kept coming back.

She’s been involved in a lot of curling since, helping run her school club (where they’ve got their hands on a floor curling set), playing at the Junior Women’s Championships and the Mixed Doubles for the past few years, and even coming in second in her first season with the team at the Juniors. As part of the Navy Cadets, Marianna loves sailing too – her second favourite sport after curling. Unfortunately, I don’t think the lake at Kisakallio will be suitable for sailing in December!

The team’s second is Helena Kiggell who got into curling back in school when Lauren Pearce (a former England international herself) set up a school club as a PE teacher. From there, Helena was on an upwards trajectory, winning the ECA Junior Women’s title in 2024. She’s been involved eith the England Elite Curling Programme, as well as winning the Schools’ Novice Cup in 2017.

Now north of the border studying Marine Biology at Glasgow University, Helena is curling with Glasgow University CC and with Reform Curling Club, though she’s still a member of the South of England CC and plays with them when she can! Off the ice she enjoys singing jazz and plays the French horn… now that would make an interesting contrast to the pipes in the stands!

At third is Anna MacDougall. Whilst she might have the formidable family name, she’s carving out a strong record in her own right. She’s already represented England in the WJBCC last year and placed at two junior playdowns. She does a lot of her curling at Cambridge, but still remembers being introduced to the game by her dad in Fentons. She still remembers the day she got on to practice with her dad for the first time and got her first stone into the house!

Anna’s a music lover at heart, so we know there will be plenty of tunes in the accommodation and at the warm-up. Kisakallio in December might be a far cry from the summer music festivals that she loves so much, but we know that Anna, and the whole team, will soak up the lively atmosphere of a World Championships and give it their all.

Finally, their skip, Lina Opel. She might be young, but she’s made a name for herself in Mixed Doubles, playing with coach and dad, Michael. She’s also been at the WJBCC before too, having represented in 2023 with this team then as well. She’s also played in Korea at the World Mixed Doubles… how will rural Finland compare to that trip, we wonder?

When Lina’s not curling, you’ll find her playing one of a number of other sports – football, rugby, cricket, hockey… As long as the attention comes back to the ice, I’m sure the team won’t mind at all. But we know that sporty and competitive mindset will be a real asset to the team. We just know that Lina and her team will be giving it 100% next week, and all their experience to this point will put them in just the right place to do just that.

We know that this team are raring to go, and we know that they’ve got what it takes to do England proud. They get their campaign started on Sunday 15th December at 0800 local time (0600 GMT) against Scotland, and you can follow all their scores on the WCF website