{{Short description|Canadian curler (born 1988)}} {{Infobox curler | name = Cassandra de Groot | image = | image_size = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|4|5}} | birth_place = Sudbury, Ontario | Curling club = Ottawa Hunt & GC, <br> Ottawa, Ontario | Skip = | Third = | Second = | Lead = | Alternate = | Member Association = {{ON}} | Hearts appearances = 2 ({{STOH|2024}}, {{STOH|2025}}) | Top CCA ranking = 7th (2023–24) | medaltemplates = }}

'''Cassandra de Groot''' (born April 5, 1988) is a Canadian curler from Ottawa.<ref name="media guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.curling.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-Home-Hardware-Curling-Pre-Trials-FINAL2.pdf|title=2025 Curling Pre-Trials Media Guide |accessdate=2025-10-20}}</ref>

==Early life== Born in Sudbury, Ontario,<ref name="media guide"/> de Groot grew up in Collingwood, where she began curling at the age of 7 at the Collingwood Curling Club. In 2000, her family moved to Stayner, where she curled out of the Stayner Granite Club. She moved to Ottawa in 2006 for university, where she began to curl competitively,<ref name="collingwood">{{cite news|title=Collingwood curler headed to Olympic pre-trials to see if she can hack it for Canadian team|date=September 20, 2021|website=Collingwood Today|url=https://www.collingwoodtoday.ca/local-news/collingwood-curler-headed-to-olympic-pre-trials-to-see-if-she-can-hack-it-for-canadian-team-4349328|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> while playing out of the Ottawa Curling Club.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet Team Inglis: The Backstory on Lead Cassandra de Groot |date=November 23, 2023|website=SeeWhatSheCanDo|url=https://www.seewhatshecando.com/discover/meet-team-inglis-the-backstory-on-lead-cassandra-de-groot|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref>

In 2019, she briefly returned to Collingwood to join her mother at her wealth management practice,<ref name="collingwood"/> before returning to Ottawa.<ref>{{cite news|title=In the house: Curler with local roots to rep Ontario at Scotties|date=February 3, 2024|website=Bradford Today|url=https://www.bradfordtoday.ca/local-sports/in-the-house-curler-with-local-roots-to-rep-ontario-at-scotties-8189681|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref>

==Career== de Groot was a member of the Katie Morrissey junior rink which made it to the finals of the 2009 Ontario Junior Championships, where they lost to Rachel Homan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Homan rink off to junior nationals|date=January 12, 2009|page=19|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen/187240714/|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> That year, she was also the runner-up at the Ontario Junior Mixed Championship. Playing for a team skipped by Christian Tolusso, her team lost to Mark Kean in the final.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61171577/the-ottawa-citizen/|title=London calling for Ottawa runner|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> Following juniors, de Groot played four more years curling with Morrissey, before joining the Danielle Inglis rink in 2014, first playing second, then moving to lead in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cassandra de Groot: Teams|website=CurlingZone|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/player.php?playerid=17584&view=Teams#1|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> With Team Inglis, she played in her first provincial women's championship in 2015, where they went 3–6.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inglis 3-6 at 2015 Ontario Scotties|website=CurlingZone|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=3709&teamid=84314&profileid=|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> The team did not qualify for provincials again until 2018. There, they made it all the way to the final before losing to Hollie Duncan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inglis Runner-Up at 2018 Ontario Scotties|website=CurlingZone|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=4853&teamid=117940&profileid=|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> The team qualified again in 2020, where the team were eliminated by Duncan again, this time in the semifinals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inglis Reaches 2020 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts|website=CurlingZone|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=6347&teamid=144493&profileid=|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref>

The team played in the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials, hoping to represent Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.<ref name="collingwood"/> There, the team finished with a 2–4 record.<ref name="media guide"/> At the next provincials, held in 2022, Team Inglis missed the playoffs, finishing with a round robin record of 3–4.

The team lost to Duncan in the semifinals again at the 2023 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Later that year, the team played in the 2023 PointsBet Invitational, where they lost in the "Sweep 16"<ref name="media guide"/> to Kayla Skrlik. In 2024, the team finally won the Ontario championship, beating Carly Howard in the final. The team then represented Ontario at the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling championship.<ref>{{cite news|title=Meet the other Ottawa curling team at this year's Scotties|date=February 17, 2024|website=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/meet-the-other-ottawa-curling-team-at-this-year-s-scotties-1.7117937|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> There, the team finished pool play with a 3–5 record,<ref name="media guide"/> missing the playoffs. Later that year, the team played in the 2024 PointsBet Invitational, where the team lost to Skrlik again in the Sweep 16.<ref name="media guide"/> Later that season, the team played in the 2025 WFG Masters Grand Slam of Curling event. There, the team went 2–2 in pool play, before losing to Team Momoha Tabata in a tiebreaker.

At the 2025 Ontario Women's Curling Championship, Team Inglis won their second straight provincial title, this time beating Chelsea Brandwood in the final.<ref>{{cite news|title=Team Inglis and Team Mooibroek crowned Ontario Curling champions in Cobourg|date=January 26, 2025|website=Brighton Today|url=https://www.brightontoday.ca/2025/01/26/team-inglis-and-team-mooibroek-crowned-ontario-curling-champions-in-cobourg/|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> The team then represented Ontario at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, where they finished pool play with a 6–2 record.<ref name="media guide"/> This put them in the championship round, where they were eliminated by Alberta's Kayla Skrlik.

The team played in the 2025 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials, where they finished with a 4–3 record, just missing the playoffs.

==Personal life== de Groot works as an associate wealth and investor advisor for Cotter Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities, whom she joined in 2013.<ref name="RBC">{{cite web|title=Meet Our Team|website=RBC Wealth Management|url=https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/web/cotter.wealthmanagement/meet-our-team|access-date=December 21, 2025}}</ref> She is married to fellow curler Gary Rowe, and has two stepsons.<ref name="media guide"/> She graduated from of the University of Ottawa in 2010 with a Bachelors degree in Health Science.<ref name="RBC"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Groot, Cassandra}} Category:Canadian people of Dutch descent<!--https://www.sudbury.com/obituaries/de-groot-roy-7721425--> Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Curlers from Ottawa Category:Curlers from Greater Sudbury Category:Sportspeople from Collingwood, Ontario Category:Sportswomen from Ontario Category:Canadian women curlers Category:21st-century Canadian sportswomen Category:University of Ottawa alumni Category:Royal Bank of Canada people Category:Financial advisors