show it. In fact, no more than a year later, he piled yet more work onto his schedule by starting chiropractic service at the Gravelbourg Health Centre, about an hour away from Moose Jaw. He spends a day a week there. While developing his business, Sim-mons also developed his game. He skipped four champion Team Saskatch-ewan curling crews from 2005 to 2008, winning the provincial championship each year. They also aimed for interna-tional success, qualifying for the Cana-dian Olympic Curling Trials in 2009 – but they didn’t win a spot at the Olympics. In 2012, Simmons started to play with a team based at the Glencoe Club in Calgary. He took an apartment in that city to be closer to his new team-mates. He credits Cindy Simmons, a competitive curler who also happens to be his wife, with managing the Moose Jaw household during his absences. Simmons also thanks Reihl and others at the clinics for covering. “Moose Jaw is a small enough com-munity that everyone knows what I do. They see me on TV and they under-stand why I’m not in the office.” In 2012, after Simmons and his crew won the Alberta championship and became known as Team Alberta, they placed second in the Brier. And in 2013, they competed in the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but as when he played for Saskatchewan a few years earlier, Alberta didn’t win a spot at the Olympics. Still, the Brier wins kept coming: Team Alberta won in 2014. And in 2015, known as Team Canada (Brier winners go on to represent the country in the world championships) they promoted Simmons to skip mid-tournament. Simmons is lifted by teammate John Morris after winning the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary. Photo credit: Courtesy, Curling Canada/Michael Burns ROCK-SOLID TIME MANAGEMENT Time management is crucial to Sim-mons’ success at the clinic and the rink. He builds sports training into his work-days. “In winter, I’ll run out during lunch, grab a quick bite to eat and then head to the rink to throw a rock. I know if I don’t do it then, it’s probably not going to happen. In the summer, the gym sessions kick in.” Home support is critical. Cindy, his wife, actually quit competitive curling www.canadianchiropractor.ca a few years ago because Simmons’ schedule was so tight, leaving next to no time for household management. “Things were getting crazy,” he says, noting that his life also involves raising children: Makena (10) and Max (8). As for his chiropractic life, it’s more than a profession for Simmons. It’s also a treatment that he uses to stay healthy. “Sprain and strain type injuries are common with curling, both from the load of delivery and sweeping through-out the body, especially joints such as knees and hips. I do receive regular chiropractic treatment for all of the above – new and old injuries sustained from on-ice and off-ice training, and for maintenance of good physical over-all health.” Does being a curling champ make a difference in his business? “It probably doesn’t hurt but I don’t know the true answer,” Simmons says. “I know people love talking about it when they come in. Out west, curling is second nature. Every rural centre has a curling rink. As much as it hurts me to be away from my family and the business, it probably hasn’t hurt to have a bit of success from the curling side of my life.” OLYMPIC DREAMS Had Team Canada lost at the Brier earlier this year, Simmons and his teammates may have decided to shelve their rocks and brooms. But the win has encouraged them to keep compet-ing. They plan to play in the Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling in December, and in the WFG Continen-tal Cup in Las Vegas in 2016. They may go even further. “We’re not saying that we’re committed to another three years of the Olympic cycle, but I can see there’s a possibility of us hanging in there and seeing if we can get hot at the right time for the Olympic trials,” Simmons says. “In the meantime, our big circle on the calen-dar is the Brier.” That’s in Ottawa, March 5 to 13, 2016. If you decide to go, be sure to cheer loudly and proudly for Simmons, a fellow DC battling on the ice. July/August 2015 Canadian Chiropractor 21
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