Laura May Strong (born October 31, 1979, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) is a Canadian curler.

Career

Juniors

Strong made her first national debut, playing lead for her sister, Heather Strong, at the

1997 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 1997 Maple Leaf Foods Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held February 8-16 in Selkirk, Manitoba. Men's Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 Draw 3 Draw 4 Draw 5 Draw 6 Draw 7 Draw 8 Draw 9 ...

, representing Newfoundland. It would be a disappointing event for the Strong sisters, only finishing round robin with a 5–7 record. In 1998 Strong would team up with Cindy Miller, playing lead stones. At the

1998 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 1998 Kärcher Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held January 24-February 1 at the Calgary Curling Club and the North Hill Curling Club in Calgary, Alberta. Men's Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 Draw 3 Dra ...

, the team would finish round robin with a 2–10 record Strong would return to the 1999 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, this time taking over as skip for the team. The change would not provide the team success, finishing in last place with a 2–10 record. Strong's final junior appearance was at the

2000 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 2000 Kärcher Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held February 5–13 at the Beausejour Curling Club in Moncton, New Brunswick. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2000 World Junior Curling Championships. Men's Teams Standin ...

, where again the team failed to make the playoffs, finishing round robin with a 4–7 record.

2001 and transition into women's play

In 2001, Strong would reunite with her sister, and together would represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the

2001 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 2001 Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's national curling championship, was played at the Sudbury Community Arena in Sudbury, Ontario. The final pitted 1999 champions Colleen Jones and her Nova Scotia team against the defending champ ...

. This was Strong's first appearance at the event. Strong failed to make the playoffs, finishing round robin with a 4–7 record.

2005–2009

Strong would not qualify for another national championship until 2005, when her team would represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the

2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's curling championship, was held at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from February 19 to 27, 2005. The tournament included 12 teams, one from each of Canada's provi ...

. This was the team's worst showing to date. They finished round robin with a last place record of 1–10. In 2006 Strong and her sister would again qualify for the

Scott Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...

, this time she would finish round robin, tied for fourth place with a 7–4 record. The team would face Quebec's

Ève Bélisle Ève Bélisle (born September 14, 1979) is a Canadian curler from Montreal. She is a three-time Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion and two-time Quebec Mixed champion. Career Bélisle became one of very few women to ever skip a team t ...

in the tiebreaker game, but would come up short, losing the match 2-8. Strong would make a third appearance in a row at the

2007 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2007 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada's women's curling championship, was held February 17–25 at the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta. It marks the first year under the ''Scotties'' brand name. The winner was the defending champion ...

. The team would again fail to qualify for the playoffs, finishing round robin with a 5–6 record. In 2008, Strong and her sister would make changes to her team. They would add

Cathy Cunningham Cathy Cunningham (born December 30, 1959 in St. John's, Newfoundland) is a Canadian curler. Career Cunningham played in her first Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling championship, in 1988 as a third for Maria Thomas. The ...

and Peg Goss, two former rivals to the lineup. The team would again qualify for the

2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling tournament was held February 16–24, 2008 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. The winner was the 2005 champion team from Manitoba, under skip Jennifer Jones. In ...

, Strong's fourth consecutive appearance. They would finish round robin tied for fourth place, where they would meet Manitoba's

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

in the tiebreaker match. The team would eventually lose the match 3-6, missing out on the playoffs. 2009 would find the Strong team qualifying for her fifth consecutive trip to the

Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...

. Once again Strong would find herself in the middle of the pack after round robin play, finishing with a 5–6 record.

2010–2014

At the

2010 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2010 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held January 6-10 at the ReMax Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The winning team, led by Shelley Nichols, represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2010 Scott ...

, the Strong sisters were both looking to capture a sixth consecutive provincial title, but this was not to be. The Strong's would lose the final to

Shelley Nichols Shelley Hardy (born May 19, 1982 in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador as Shelley Nichols) is a Canadian curler originally from St. John's. She currently plays third on Team Lauren Mann. Hardy played third for Jennifer Guzzwell at the 20 ...

. Cunningham and Goss would retire from competitive curling following the season. In 2011, the Strong's would add Cunningham's daughter Jenn Cunningham and

Stephanie Korab Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian ...

to the team. At the

2011 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2011 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held January 19–23, 2011 at the Bally Haly Golf and Curling Club in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The winning team of Stacie Devereaux represented Newfoundland ...

Strong would again make the playoffs, but lost the semi-final to Nichols. At the

2012 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2012 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Newfoundland and Labrador's women's provincial curling championship, was held from January 18 to 22 at the ReMax Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The winning team, ...

Strong found success, finishing round robin in first place, and defeating

Laura Phillips Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

in the final. At the

2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from Saturday, February 18 to Sunday, February 26 at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta. This Tournament of Hearts marked the second time ...

, the team would have a disappointing run, finishing 4-7 in round robin play. In 2012, Cunningham was replaced by Erica Trickett on the team. The team played in just one

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from J ...

event in the season, the

2012 ROGERS Masters of Curling The 2012 Masters Grand Slam of Curling was held from November 14 to 18 at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, the Brantford Golf & Curling Club, the Paris Curling Club, and the Brant Curling Club in Brantford and Paris, Ontario as part of the 20 ...

, where they lost in the quarter-final. The team lost in the final of the

2013 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2013 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts women's provincial curling championship, was held January 16–20 at the Bally Haly Golf & Curling Club in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The winning Stacie Devereaux rink ...

. Following the season, the front-end of the team was replaced with

Jessica Cunningham Jessica Cunningham (born 3 March 1987) is a businesswoman, actress, model and television personality, best known for competing in the 2016 series of ''The Apprentice'', coming fourth. She is also known for her appearance as a contestant on ''Ce ...

and

Kathryn Cooper Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Di ...

. While the team did not play in any

events, they did win the

2014 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2014 Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the provincial women's curling championship for Newfoundland and Labrador, was held from January 8 to 12 at the RE/MAX Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The winning ...

. The team represented their province at the

2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held from February 1 to 9 at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Quebec. The defending champion Rachel Homan rink won their second straight title, with Homan becoming the youngest skip to ever win ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, where the team finished with a 4–7 record. In 2014, Strong joined the

Nancy Inglis Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...

rink, based out of

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city population ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Laura Curlers from Newfoundland and Labrador People from Mount Pearl Curlers from Regina, Saskatchewan Sportspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 1979 births Living people Canadian women curlers Canada Cup (curling) participants