Having sat on the bench for Team GB as they made their gallant bid for glory at the Winter Olympics, Fay Henderson returns to action this week in Dumfries skipping her own regular rink as they bid to claim a third successive Hardie Engineering Scottish Championships title (24-28 February).
The former World Junior champion went through all the highs and lows of that Olympic campaign without being able to influence events on the ice, but in the absence of the quartet who came agonisingly close to reaching the play-offs in Cortina, she and teammates Hailey Duff, Lisa Davie, Katie McMillan and Laura Watt head into the nationals as a firm favourite to retain the title in front of her friends and family. 
“To be able to win a third Scottish title at my home rink as well would be great,” said the 24-year-old.
“Three in a row isn’t something that many skips have been able to do in their first few years out of juniors, so I think that would definitely mean a lot and hopefully it would lead to our selection at Worlds third time lucky, so I am really hoping that we can put in a really great performance all of this week and then the results will take care of themselves.”
Should she do so she would join an elite group, with only Kelly Wood and 2022 Olympic gold medallist Eve Muirhead having previously won three Scottish women’s titles in succession previously and with the decision having been taken that Team GB’s Olympic teams will not be going to the World Championships for Scotland this time around, victory would strengthen her team’s case for selection for this season’s World Championships.
If that happens, the experience of the last 10 days, rubbing shoulders with the modern greats of the game will serve her well and Henderson is by no means daunted by the prospect.
“Not all of the Olympians will be ruled out of this year’s World Championships this season,” she noted.
“There are still many of the Olympic teams hoping to compete so I think it will be great to test ourselves against some of the teams that I have been watching here at Milan Cortina as I think the standard has been very high and I am hoping that we can keep that going into this World Championships providing we get selected.
“It has been great working with Team Morrison this past week and watching them perform so well.
“That definitely gives us inspiration knowing that we are all on the same programme and we want to perform well to make sure we keep everyone watching curling after the big boost in interest in the game from the past two weeks and we want more people to try it.”
That responsibility to the next generation is something she is very much aware of and she is anxious to help generate strength in depth in the domestic women’s game to match that in the British Curling men’s set up.
“We want to make the pathway stronger in the future, so hopefully our performances will help inspire more to get involved,” said Henderson.
“We want to have as strong a programme as possible and we are fortunate to be supported by the British Curling programme and the National Lottery.
“When you look at the men’s side of the game, the internal and domestic rivalry is really pushing standards up with three men’s teams in the world top ten and it would be great to replicate that on the women’s side too.
“Being able to go out there and put in a really strong performance at the Scottish would hopefully lead to a strong world championship campaign and keeping people watching curling and inspire the next generation, that would be great.
“We have been working hard as a team and obviously I have been away on Olympic duty, but we know we have put the work in for the rest of the season so we are looking forward to getting back together and putting in our best performance in Dumfries.”
Henderson’s women open their campaign in the five team competition against another line-up led by a promising up and coming local skip in Tia Laurie, who won a gold medal at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics and is accompanied by Cara Davidson, Kirsty Gallacher, Holly Burke and Amy Mitchell.
The other teams in the women’s draw are led by Forfar’s Callie Soutar, another gold medallist from those Youth Olympics, Edinburgh’s Amy Seftor and Perth’s Holly Wilkie-Milne.
Please click here for the draw
Images: British Curling – PPA/Graeme Hart 