Renée Sonnenberg (born Renée Handfield March 22, 1971) is a Canadian curler from

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in Northern Alberta, northwestern Alberta, Canada, within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Alberta Highway 43, Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Curling career

Sonnenberg had a fairly successful junior career, having won two provincial junior titles in 1989 and 1990. She placed third at the

1989 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 1989 Pepsi Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held March 25 to April 1, 1989 at the Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Men's Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 Draw 3 Draw 5 Draw 8 Draw ...

. At the

1990 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 1990 Pepsi Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held March 24 to 31, 1990 at the Garson Arena in Garson, Ontario. Men's Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 Draw 3 Draw 5 Draw 7 Draw 8 Draw 9 Draw ...

, her team finished 4–6, out of the playoffs. In 2001, Sonnenberg won the provincial mixed title, playing third for Kurt Balderston. They finished the round robin tied for first with another ''six'' teams at a 7–4 record. They lost to Saskatchewan in their first tie breaker match, eliminating them. Sonnenberg has won two provincial titles, in 1999 and 2001. At the 1999 Scott Tournament of Hearts, she finished 5–6, out of the playoffs. At the 2001 Scott Tournament of Hearts, she finished 4–7, missing the playoffs again. Sonnenberg was asked to be the alternate player for Team Alberta (skipped by

Kristie Moore Kristie Moore (born April 22, 1979) is a Canadian curler from Sexsmith, Alberta. She was the alternate player on the Canadian women's team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was five months pregnant at the time, making her only the third Olympic ...

) at the

2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 16 to 24 at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario. It was the ninth time Ontario hosted the Tournament of Hearts. Ontario last hos ...

, following losing to Moore in the final of the 2013 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, she was also asked to be the alternate player, this time for the

Valerie Sweeting Valerie Sweeting (born July 9, 1987 in Redvers, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian curler from Lottie Lake, Alberta She currently plays third for Team Kerri Einarson. Sweeting skipped Alberta to a silver medal at the and Scotties Tournament of Hearts ...

team. At the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, Sonnenberg coached the Danish national team. Sonnenberg and her team qualified to play in her first

Olympic Trials Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

by qualifying out of the 2013 Olympic Pre-Trials tournament, giving her the right to play in the

2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials (branded as the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings for sponsorship reasons) were held from December 1 to 8 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The winners of the men's and women's events were chosen ...

. Sonnenberg was named as part of the

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

High Performance staff, acting as the Performance Consultant & Analytics Lead for the 2018-19 National Team Program.

Personal life

Sonnenberg has a husband and a son, and is employed as a teacher with the Grande Prairie & District Catholic Schools. She currently is running the Grande Prairie, Alberta KUMON Learning Centre.

Grand Slam record

Sonnenberg's only Grand Slam victory came at the

2011 Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic The 2011 Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic was held October 21 to 24 at the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was the second women's Grand Slam event of the 2011–12 curling season and the eighth time the tournament ha ...

Former events

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnenberg, Renee Sportspeople from Grande Prairie Curlers from Edmonton Living people Canadian women curlers 1971 births Canadian schoolteachers Canadian curling coaches Canada Cup (curling) participants