Meet the Sask. curler who designed Canada’s world championship jerseys

On the ice, Steph Schmidt has thrown rocks at curling competitions like the Scotties. But in the studio she’s also designed the jerseys Team Canada is wearing at this year’s World Curling Championships.

“It’s been a wonderful career, and I think that really sets me up to do well with the design work,” Schmidt said.

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The BTK World Men’s Curling Championship is set to begin at Moose Jaw’s Temple Gardens Centre on Saturday, and the tournament runs until April 6.

This is the second year Schmidt will see jerseys she designed on the ice at the world championships. She also won bids to create jerseys for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Montana’s Brier over the past two years.

Schmidt’s kids have seen her working late nights in the studio, where her daughter made her own jersey sketches. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

“Bidding on it was a bit surreal, and winning it was just a dream come true,” she said. “I’m so excited and honoured.

“I’m actually really proud of what we’ve done, and I think Canadians are really going to resonate with it.”

Schmidt created white, red, and black jersey designs for the world championships.

Knowing how important curling is to Canadians, Schmidt said she went with a more traditional design, and this year’s black jersey incorporated the northern nights.

“We started daydreaming about about about the uniqueness of Canada and our landscape, and sort of a whimsical, magical feeling is what we wanted,” she said.

“The northern lights just felt so perfect, and it turned out it looked so beautiful on the jerseys and on the ice.”

Schmidt also included small details to pull at the heartstrings of Canadian curling fanatics, including lyrics from the national anthem inside the collars.

Schmidt hold up one of the northern lights jersey designs. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

The designs for the Team Canada jerseys were submitted around Christmas of 2023.

Team Canada won its second consecutive World Women’s Curling Championship in Uijeongbu, South Korea on Sunday. Rachel Homan and her rink beat Switzerland 7-3 while wearing jerseys Schmidt designed.

The next jersey Schmidt is set to create will be seen in Italy for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, when curlers representing Team Canada take to the pebbled ice.

“It’s surreal,” she said. “Takes a while to sink in.”

Schmidt has competed in the Scotties tournament in previous years, and currently serves as the fourth on Ashley Thevenot’s rink.

Schmidt says the production journey was a wonderful experience. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

She said her experience on the ice helped set her up to prepare the designs.

“It even adds a bit more pressure of knowing the weight of wearing one of those jackets, and knowing how important it is to the athletes. We work so hard to win one of those jackets,” she said. “You can’t buy them – you have to win them, and that’s so significant.”

With professional experience creating curling jerseys under her belt, Schmidt hopes she can also find success designing jerseys to other sports.

“I’ve really fallen in love with this process and the storytelling that comes along with the opportunity to work in sports,” she said. “The merging of design and sports feels perfect for me.”