Fay Henderson, who served as alternate for Scotland's Olympic curling team, will skip the nation's squad at the Women's World Curling Championships in Calgary. The 24-year-old recently won her third straight Scottish Championship and aims to prove her team's worth on the international stage. Scotland begins its campaign against China on Saturday.
The Women's World Curling Championships run from 14 to 22 March in Calgary, Canada. Scotland's team, none of whom competed at the recent Winter Olympics in Cortina, features Henderson as skip alongside Hailey Duff, Katie McMillan, Lisa Davie, and Laura Watt. Henderson was the alternate for the Olympic rink that narrowly missed a semi-final spot.
In recent months, Henderson has enjoyed a successful run, securing her third consecutive Scottish Championship in Dumfries. Despite this domestic dominance, she has waited for a chance to lead at the international level. Upon arriving in Calgary on Monday, she quickly hit the gym, showing no signs of fatigue from her busy schedule.
"It's exciting that we're finally getting our chance," Henderson told BBC Sport Scotland. "We want to show everyone at home that we could have been deserving of the opportunity before now."
She described the past three months as the best of her life, though the pace left her in "survival mode." On the flight to Canada, excitement finally set in. "It's basically been the best three months of my life so it's just trying to like soak all of that up and appreciate it while you're in the moment."
Scotland fields a different lineup from its Olympic team, unlike Denmark, Italy, China, and Japan, which are sending their Cortina squads. Ranked in the lower half of the 13 competing nations, Henderson's group hopes to surprise and match Rebecca Morrison's sixth-place finish from last year.
With Olympic cycle decisions looming, the team sees this tournament as a key opportunity. "We obviously aren't sure what the rest of the girls from the Olympic team are going to do," Henderson said. "But to put together a good performance and show that we're a great unit, that can play great curling, and try and almost cement a place to continue on for the next couple of championships and get to the Olympics as well would be great."
