When Kelly Schafer met the man she would marry she knew she was almost certainly turning her back on the dreams generated by her first love.

The decision of the two-time Winter Olympian who is better known in her native land as Kelly Wood, to settle down on the other side of the Atlantic after she met and fell for local mayor Jerrod Schafer was obviously life-changing and she is now mum to a son and two step-children.

Still the old fires burned, however, not least because she is surrounded by the sport she is passionate about in the country that values it most.

The 35-year-old has consequently made efforts to switch national allegiances to re-open a route to the top without success, her bid to attain Canadian citizenship, which she would require to be allowed to compete at World Championships and Winter Olympics, having so far been thwarted.

“I have competed on the tour in Canada with a couple of teams but it became more frustrating knowing that at the end of the season I had nothing to compete for, especially when I have had many offers from competitive teams in Saskatchewan,” she admitted.

“My goal to play for Canada inches further and further away as government rules on citizenship criteria change and for every day I leave the country it is a day deducted from the total time that is accrued towards gaining eligibility.”

Even so she considered the opportunity to join Team Muirhead too good to turn down.

“When Eve asked me if I would consider the possibility of stepping in for Anna (Sloan) the only reservation I had was whether it would be the right move for the team,” she said, noting that she is a good fit as a replacement because she is not attached to another Scottish team.

“Selfishly I didn’t need to give it a second thought, stepping back into the sport that steals my heart, the place that makes me feel like me, with my friend, old team mate and arguably the best skip in the world. There was no deliberation on a personal level.

“I was beginning to think my hopes of curling at this level again were all but a dream. My excitement couldn’t be hidden and Jerrod wouldn’t let me turn down the opportunity. He decided we would make it work one way or another and together decided that I would bring (two-year-old) Darby to Scotland where he could spend quality time with my family allowing me to focus on training and competition.

“I feel lucky to have the support of everyone involved so that I can do this.”

She is aware, however, of an additional responsibility to ensure that standards are maintained in what is a key year for the team as it seeks both to assert its status as Scotland and Britain’s leading quartet while ensuring that qualification for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang is achieved and she has consequently embraced the ‘supersub’ tag.

“When it comes down to it you’re there to do a job,” she said.

“I need to be the super-sub. When it comes onto ice you want to work as best as you can.”

An additional advantage to her involvement is that Team Muirhead can anticipate even greater support than it is used to when it heads into the competitive cauldron of Canadian curling.

“The reaction has been huge, especially in my local area, Saskatchewan, because curling is so popular there,” said Schafer.

“Eve’s even more popular there than she is here from a curling perspective so everybody’s just so excited. I think it helped that I came into the community (in Swift Current) from Eve’s team and now I’m going back to her and her team when she’s thought of so highly as an Olympic medallist.

“She’s arguably the best skip in the world I would say. They know. Canadians are knowledgeable. They’re not too protective. They like who they like. So everybody was just so excited that I’ve got this opportunity.

“Knowing how well thought of Eve and her team are adds to the excitement. And that’s kind of cool, because it also spreads the excitement for a Scottish team.

“We start in Edmonton and then the weekend after that we play in Saskatoon which is just two hours from my home town. So already people are saying they’re coming.

“For them it’s a big deal. The fact they can see Eve and recognise someone they know in that scenario is more of a big deal for them than it is for me.”

Team Muirhead kicks off its competitive season in Canada at the HDF Insurance Shoot Out which takes place in Edmonton from September 8-11, before that trip to Schafer’s home province where they play in the Colonial Square Ladies Classic in Saskatoon.