Victoria’s Taylor Reese-Hansen Becomes First Woman Drafted to Professional Curling League

A BC woman is front and centre in the new era of curling, as Taylor Reese-Hansen became the first woman to be drafted to Rock League, the new professional curling venture launched in 2026 by The Curling Group.  

Reese-Hansen, a native of Kitimat, curls out of Victoria, BC, and has steadily risen over the last year. In 2025-26, she skipped her team to a Grand Slam of Curling Canadian Open Tier 2 title and captured the BC title to represent the province at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.  

On Monday, she was selected fourth overall in the first edition of the Rock League Draft, joining inaugural season champions Shield Curling Club for this season’s competitions.  

Her selection came just two weeks after she competed on home ice at the Co-Op Invitational at Victoria’s Save-On-Foods Centre, where she skipped her World No. 18 team to an 11th-place finish in her first appearance on the Grand Slam of Curling’s top circuit.  

While the 28-year-old’s rink failed to advance to the playoffs at the Victoria event, they opened the tournament with a win against Alina Pätz, who won an Olympic silver medal at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics, and has four World Championships and six Grand Slam of Curling titles through her eight-year run with Silvana Tirinzoni. Tirinzoni retired in the offseason, allowing Pätz to step back into skipping.  

"It feels surreal," Reese-Hansen told the GSOC website at the time, skipping with third and Victoria native Megan McGillivray, second Kim Bonneau and lead Julianna Mackenzie. "Honestly, we were just so excited going into that game. We have so many friends and family who are here cheering for us, which really just gave us an extra shot in the arm, so that was so much fun and just extra special to come away with the win.” 

Her selection to Rock League replaces Marlee Powers on the roster, and it came after Frontier Curling Club selected Swiss Pablo Lachat-Couchepin with the top pick in the draft. Following Lachat-Couchepin’s selection, Maple United and Alpine Curling Club selected the Waddell brothers out of Scotland, with Kyle going No. 2 overall, followed by Craig at No. 3.  

Shield also features two-time Canadian Olympic champion Brad Jacob, and five-time Scotties champion Kerri Einarson, as well as Italian Olympic champion Amos Mosaner, and World Champion Tracy Fleury, among others.  

Northern United and Typhoon Curling Club did not make picks as their rosters remain set from last season. 

What is Rock League? 

Now in Rock League for the first time, Reese-Hansen will take part in the second season of professional curling’s newest venture, which sees six teams compete in a five-stop tour, with men’s, women’s and mixed competitions going head to head to make up matchups.  

Launched by The Curling Group, which also owns and operates the Grand Slams, Rock League debuted with a one-stop condensed season in Toronto in April 2026, where Shield claimed the inaugural title at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the former Maple Leafs Gardens.  

While the league’s six franchises, all owned by The Curling Group, are regionally based, players come from around the world to make up the teams, which feature five women and five men each for mixed-gender competition.  

The innovative curling league will feature five events across Canada and the United States, with an opening weekend in January. 7-10 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, before stops in Utica, NY, Ottawa, and Red Deer, leading into the championship weekend in Kalamazoo, MI, from April 15-18.