March 2012 U.S. Curling News

his Spring the 10State and RegionalAssociationstogether with the

At-Large clubs will beasked to vote on the pro-posed governance changesfor the United StatesCurling Association(USCA). It is expected thatthe State and RegionalAssociations will meet

ahead of time, at which theclubs in each of the statesand regions will be asked tovote on the proposed gover-nance changes.

These changes as pro-posed are not insignificantin effect either on the struc-ture of the USCA or forUSCA’s future as a nationalgoverning body of theOlympic sport of curling.

Distilled to its essence, theproposed changes in gover-nance have two compo-nents. First is to acknowl-edge and reinforce thatthose who serve the USCAin elected positions do soconsistent with the status ofthe USCA as an organiza-tion with a national per-spective and responsibility.The second is to create a

governance structure thatsupports a policy/strategicplan-focused Board andgrants, clearly, operationalauthority to the paid staffheaded by a ChiefExecutive Officer, and sup-ported by volunteers.

T H E I C E S P O R T O F F I T N E S S A N D F I N E S S E

Curling NewsCurling NewsU N I T E D S T A T E S

April 2012 • Volume 67 Number 4 Established 1945 • www.usacurl.org • $2.50

IndexBonspiel Results.....16-18

College Curling..............5

Comics......................... 13

Curler’s Calendar.........15

Letters..................... .......5

Member Services........... 3

Rocket Exhaust............15

Tales From Sheet 9........ 4

Training Tips................15

Tucked in the Back......19

USWCA News........... 6-8

Youth Corner..................3

Inside

Andy’s League............ P3

U18 Teams Set............ P3

Karst prevails.............. P7

Junior Medalists.......... P9

Champs crowned..P10-11

Wheelchair Worlds.... P12

Handling pressure..... P13

Timing tips................ P15

Connect with USA

Curling on

Team USA captured the coveted Herries-Maxwell Trophy during the 2012 Scot Tour. To read the complete story about the 2012 Scot

Tour and their adventures in Scotland, please see story on Page 14.

Curling 1, Blizzard 0

Herries-Maxwell Trophy returns to USA

Spring vote to determine USCA’sgovernance structure

A blizzard and an avalanche didn’t stop 10 members of the Boise Curling Club from making the trek northeast on Feb.

11 for a Learn to Curl event during the Stanley-Sawtooth Winterfest 2012 in Idaho. BCC member John Treinen (above)

takes a coffee break during blizzard ice prep. To find out more about this journey, see story on Page 14.

Submitted photo

See VOTE, Page 5

T

I’m always in search ofgreat “people stories.” Youknow, the kind that leaveyou thinking after you fin-ish reading about them.Thinking about how youcan make the world betteror how you can better thepeople around you. Or, sim-ply a story that brightensyour day and gives you thewarm fuzzies. This is likelywhy my newspaper careerwas cut short after fouryears of handling obituar-ies, troubling court casesand “hard” news. It wasn’tuntil I moved to the fea-tures desk that I found whatI really enjoyed – theopportunity to share good,uplifting news stories. OK,stop reading now if youdon’t want that kind ofstory. I’m going to tell itanyway.

The 2012 WorldWheelchair Championshipconcluded earlier thismonth in South Korea.Chuncheon City to beexact. This story isn’t aboutTeam USA. It’s about TeamUSA’s coach, Steve Brown,and the story begins in1971, when Brown was sta-tioned in Korea as a mem-ber of the U.S. ArmyMedical Corps. While sta-tioned there he met ChaiHyun Lim, who wasassigned to Brown’s unit asa KATUSA (KoreanAugmentation to the UnitedStates Army) – an interpre-tor, goodwill ambassador,problem-solver, and whatthey didn’t know upon firstmeeting – a lifelong friend.The KATUSA programbegan in 1950 during theKorean War as an unofficialagreement between the twonations that still existstoday.

While stationed inKorea, Brown and Limbecame friends. “He tookme to see the country; he

taught me about Korea andwe became very closefriends,” Brown said. “Heintroduced me to otherKoreans, took me toKorean baseball games andrestaurants. He’s the onethat made my life enjoyablewhile I was in the military.He kept me on the straightand narrow, and that’s whyI have so much tremendousrespect for him.”

After returning to theU.S. the two new friendsexchanged letters, and in1980 they were reunitedwhen Lim’s work as abanker brought him to NewYork City for a seminar. Hecontacted Brown and flewto Madison, Wis., to visithim. After that visit, thefriends lost touch again. In1995, Lim’s daughtersattended Indiana State andBrown exchanged e-mailswith the daughters and Lim,but never met up.

Flash forward to 2011and upon learning that theWorld WheelchairChampionship would beheld in Korea, Brown triedin vain to get in touch withhis long-lost friend. He

found old mailing and e-mail addresses but had noluck. He Googled hisfriend, but no luck. He evensent an Air Mail to the bankwhere he last knew Kimhad worked, but didn’t hearanything back. Resigned,Brown sadly accepted thathe may not see his friendwhile in Korea.

Upon arrival for theevent, however, he told hisstory to his translator, whoquickly sped into action tore-connect the old friends.The translator contacted thepersonnel department atthat same bank and theyrelayed the message to Limthat Brown was in Seouland wanted to see him. Afive-hour bus ride fromPusan later, and the twofriends were reunited.

“It’s pretty exciting tocome back here again andto see him again,” Brownsaid. “It’s very emotionalbecause he was such a goodfriend.”

Brown’s joy was sharedby Lim. “It’s exciting. Icouldn’t sleep last nightthinking about seeing himagain,” he said. “I neverthought we’d meet in Koreaagain. It’s kind of like adream. I was surprised toget the phone call ... it’sreally like a dream.”

The two reunited friends,who shared a small part oftheir lives together morethan 40 years earlier, spentthe next few days togethercatching up and sharing thejourneys they’ve both takensince meeting under unusu-al circumstances.

A special thanks to my

friends Joanna Kelly and

Daniel Parker from the

World Curling Federation

for catching on to this story

and taping the interview

between Brown and Lim.

VOlUmE 67, No. 4 April 2012

Curling NewsCurling NewsU N I T E D S T A T E SU N I T E D S T A T E S

2 APRIl 2012 USA Curling... Dare to curl

Official publication of theUnited States Curling Association

Editor — Terry KolesarAssociate Editor—Rick Patzke Emeritus Editor—David Garber

Design: Terry Kolesar

Next editorial deadline: April 27, 2012

The United States Curling News (ISSN 1064-3001; USPS 392-020)is published five times per year in October, November, February,March and May by the United States Curling Association. TheUSCA and Curling News office is located at 5525 Clem’s Way,Stevens Point, WI 54482. Telephone 715-344-1199. Subscriptionprice for non-USCA members: $16 per year (North America), $26per year (overseas), payable in US currency. Single copy price:$2.50. Advertising rates on request. Established 1945. Periodicalspostage paid at Waupaca, Wisconsin, and additional offices asrequested. Postmaster sends address changes to U.S. Curling News,5525 Clem’s Way, Stevens Point, WI 54482.

United States Curling Association

Officers

President Chris SjueVice Presidents Kent Beadle

Dave CarlsonJerome LarsonJames Pleasants

Treasurer Sean SilverSecretary Bob Pelletier

Directors

Paul Badgero [2012]Kent Beadle [2012]Craig Brown (AAC) [2012]Dave Carlson [2013]Maureen Clark (AAC) [2012]Gabrielle Coleman [2014]Lynita Delaney [2012]Janet Farr (USWCA) [2012]Dean Gemmell (AAC) [2012]Nancy Haggenmiller [2013]Peggy Hatch** [2014]Jonathan Havercroft [2013]Cyndee Johnson [2014]Gwen Krailo [2013]Jerome Larson [2012]Jan Legacie [2014]

Rich Lepping* [2012]Gordon Maclean [2013]Richard Maskel (AAC) [2012]Bob Pelletier [2012]James Pleasants [2013]Allison Pottinger (AAC) [2012]Leland Rich [2014]Sean Silver [2012]Chris Sjue [2013]Mark Swandby [2014]Ann Swisshelm (AAC) [2012]Beau Welling* [2012]Sam Williams [2014]* Board-elected

** Voice, no vote

Off-site staff:

Director of Sport Education

Scott Higgins913-449-2933 • [email protected]

Director of High Performance

Derek [email protected]

US: +1 715-254-5024 • UK: +44 7793 099668

National Wheelchair Development Coach

Steve Brown, [email protected]

National Wheelchair Curling Outreach Development Director

Marc DePerno, [email protected]

Head Ice Technician

Dave Staveteig701-772-0705 • [email protected]

USA Curling National Office

5525 Clem’s WayStevens Point, WI 54482

Office: 715-344-1199 • Fax: 715-344-2279E-mail: [email protected] • Web site: www.usacurl.org

CHIEF OPERATINg OFFICER:

Rick Patzke, [email protected] OF COmmUNICATIONS:

Terry Kolesar, [email protected]:

Sandy Robinson, [email protected] SERVICES mANAgER:

Dawn Leurquin, [email protected] ASSISTANT:

Christy Hering, [email protected] & DEVElOPmENT mANAgER:

Kim Nawyn, [email protected]

AmERICAN CURlINg FOUNDATION & mUSEUm

The Museum is located at the Chicago Curling Club,555 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062

CURATOR: James M. Miller Jr.2011 Glendale Ave.Northbrook, IL 60062847-272-7224

Ideas? Complaints? Send

your thoughts to Curling

News Editor Terry Kolesar

[email protected]

715-344-1199, Ext. 202

From the

Editor’s Desk

UNITED STATES WOmEN’S CURlINg ASSOCIATION

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT Maureen GuayFIRST VICE PRESIDENT Bridget MatzkeSECOND VICE PRESIDENT Shelley DropkinSECRETARY Mary Ann HulmeTREASURER Carolyn MacLeodUSCA LIAISON Janet FarrPUBLIC RELATIONS Nancy WilhelmPROMOTIONS Jennifer Stannard

Curling reunites militaryfriends decades later

Is your copy of theCurling News going tothe wrong address ormissing altogether?

Send updates andinquiries to ChristyHering at [email protected].

ACF&Mdonations

acceptedDonations to the

American CurlingFoundation and Museum, located in the ChicagoCurling Club, can be sentto 555 Dundee Road,Northbrook, IL 60062.The curator is JamesMiller Jr., 847-272-7224.

Two lifelong friends living worlds apart were reunited when

Steve Brown (left), head coach for Team USA, and former

KATUSA Chai Hyun Lim met in Korea in February while the

2012 World Wheelchair Championship was underway.

Photo courtesy of the World Curling Federation

t’s been a busy month for theRoarin’ Game of Curling! Bynow most of the champi-onships have been settled,

which makes it a great time to turnthe attention at your club toBantam curling.

Bantam curling covers two agecategories, under 14 (U14) andunder 18 (U18). Usually theyounger groups play six-end gamesin an open format, and the oldergroup plays eight ends in separateboys’ and girls’ divisions. TheseBantam bonspiels are great fun anda great way to introduce competi-tive curling to kids in your youthcurling programs. The logistics areeasy. Simply call a friend at aneighboring club and put together aone-day ’spiel.

Speaking of Bantam curling, theteams that will represent the United

States at the Optimist InternationalU18 bonspiel have been selected.The Optimist International U18 isthe world championships of sorts inthe Bantam curling world. Teamsfrom every Canadian province,Japan, and the United States willcompete this year April 4-8 at twocurling clubs in Toronto, Ontario,in what is the largest Bantam bon-spiel in the world.

Participants from the UnitedStates in the past are some of thesame names you now see in ourmen’s and women’s champi-onships. This year’s teams are:

girls

michigan: Alexis Schroeder,Sidney Schroeder, KaylaBeauregard, Kaely HarmerPennsylvania: Sarah Anderson,

Elizabeth Brundage, TaylorAnderson, Christine McMakinWisconsin: Kathleen Dubberstein,Brittany Falk, Leilani Dubberstein,Madison Bear

Boys

minnesota: Tyler Running, JoshMoore, KC Dewar, Eric JaegerWashington: Evan McAuley, LucViolette, Nick Connolly, BlakeSweet

Also attending the OptimistInternational will be the winner ofa playoff between these two GNCCboys teams: Kent Suslavich, JoeSipzner, Will Pryor and AndrewDudt versus Darrel Dudt, CameronVike, Phillip Mack and CodyClouser. Good luck and good curl-ing to all our competitors at thisgreat event!

APRIl 2012 3USA Curling... Dare to curl


U.S. teams set to compete at U18 in TorontoYouth Corner

By Dave Jensen,

Chairman, USCA

Youth Committee

I

Certifications

level I Instructor

Ryan BrazellAl CampisanoLinda C. FeliceHollis FeliceJames FigielMark R. FisherJacqueline HaynesTim HovreAdam KappLonny MartinAidan O'Dowd-RyanMichael PetersenSusan SimsDan WhiteSarah Wruck

Re-certified level I

Instructor

Jay Watsky

level II Instructor

Al CampisanoLenore CollinsBarbara J. KlugEdward KlugMichael Petersen

level I Official

Kim BelfJim FreundDaniel GradyBill HuttAndy KaiserAnn KirkpatrickJeffrey LeeGina MicekAlison PiattCathy RitterKimberly SawyerDiane ScheunemannColin SimpsonCharles L. SkinnerJeff ThompsonClarence A. ToppTim WiddowsonGregg Wolff

level II Official

Kim BelfCraig EvansDaniel GradyMartin KellyAnn KirkpatrickJeffrey Lee

Have certification materials

to turn in? Contact Kim

Nawyn at 715-344-1199,

Ext. 203 or via e-mail at

[email protected].

n an experiment sponsored byThe Dow Chemical Company,Chemical Bank, and TimHortons, the Midland Curling

Club has established Andy’sLeague, a curling league for athleteswho participate in SpecialOlympics, along with their families,friends, and staff. The goal is to dis-cover the level of interest, and todetermine if curling could be aviable Special Olympics sport inMichigan.

The league is named for AndyYoung, a 23-year-old SpecialOlympian who has been curlingwith a stick for six years as part ofthe Midland Curling Club’s Sundayafternoon Youth Program. Whenlocal parents learned of SpecialOlympics International’s interest inmaking as many Olympic sports aspossible become Special Olympicssports, and of USA Curling’s inter-est in that concept as well, an effortwas born to try it in Midland.

At the end of the 2010-11 season,the organizers invited Andy and sev-eral other Special Olympians ofhigh and low functionality from thearea to try curling with the stick andno sweeping in a two-hour experi-ment. The athletes got comfortable

on the ice, learned the basics, threwa few practice stones, and thenplayed a quick four-end game. Thescore was 4-3. The first-timers wentfrom being nervous about getting onthe ice to not wanting to get off. Theconcept was feasible.

The summer was spent gettingsponsors to cover the costs andmaking all the arrangements for aregular league time. (SpecialOlympics is funded 100 percent bydonations. The athletes are nevercharged to participate. The experi-ment needed sponsors if curling wasever to become a Special Olympicsactivity.) The Dow ChemicalCompany, one of the global corpo-rate sponsors of the Olympics, tookthe lead because this developmentaleffort supported their global com-mitment to the Olympics andSpecial Olympics. Chemical Bankand Tim Hortons followed Dow’slead as part of their community out-reach efforts that include support ofSpecial Olympics.

Now, as the 2011-12 seasoncomes to an end, Andy’s League hasmade great progress. Thirty-fourathletes, 17 family members, and 10staff and support people have triedcurling, all but two for the first time.Enthusiasm is high. Two of theclub’s four sheets are full everytime, with instruction taking placeon a third sheet.

The most rewarding thing hasbeen seeing how excited these newcurlers are, and that they are active-ly recruiting their friends to getinvolved. Once the athletes try curl-ing, they love it. Some of the mostenthusiastic participants are the peo-ple who were most nervous beforethey tried it. It bodes well for thefuture.

We hope this is just the begin-ning. There is a large population ofpotential curlers in every communi-ty who would enjoy the game ifonly they knew about it and couldtry it. It simply requires a partner-ship between the local club, one ormore sponsors, and an organizerwho wants to get people with intel-lectual or other disabilities involved.The ARC of Midland and KiwanisAktion Club, two other organiza-tions for people with disabilities, areusing Andy’s League to learn moreabout curling for their members.The Lewiston Curling Club is alsointerested in starting a program intheir area. The goal for next year isto expand the program to otherclubs.

For more information on Andy'sLeague, and how you might get aprogram started in your area, pleasecontact Gregg Young [email protected] or byphone at 989-839-9792 (H) or 989-492-2029 (C).

Andy’s League aids Special Olympians

Eager curlers and instructors have made Andy’s League, a curling league for athletes who participate in Special Olympics, a

success at Midland.

by Gregg Young,

Midland Curling Club

I

gROWTH & DEVElOPmENTYour contact: Kim Nawyn, [email protected]

found myself gluedto my laptop watching(new glam star) Tuckand others on the web-

stream of the USCANationals fromPhiladelphia. Thoseinvolved combined to makethe show professional andinteresting: athletes, coach-es, ice makers, the localorganizing committee, offi-cials, timers, statisticiansand USCA staff. The quali-ty of the audio and videowas terrific, with multiplecameras and views of allfive sheets. 12th EndSports, the producers, are tobe commended. Thisexpanded nationals cover-age, with over 1,000 peoplewatching much of the time,is a good omen for more ofthe same for fans.

Eau Claire

Bob Fuller of the EauClaire, Wis., Curling Clubrecently shared historicalinformation with theCurling News. The originalEau Claire Curling Clubwas founded in 1876. Thefounding documents speci-fied the club would operateunder the rules of the GrandNational Curling Club of

America (the same as thepresent-day GNCC). Eachmember agreed to own apair of curling “blocks” anda broom, and to attend twomeetings a month for thepurpose of “practicing.”Those who did not owncurling blocks could pro-cure them “by inquiring ofFrank Pulley at RailwayHotel, North Eau Claire.”Eau Claire was a lumbertown. Presumably a curling

block was made of wood,with a handle attached.

The original club evi-dently faded away, re-founded in 1956 as theIndianhead Curling Club,with naturally cooled ice, inthe county fairgrounds, likesome other Wisconsin clubsthen, e.g., Rice Lake,Wausau and a modernexample, Superior. A clubhouse, a third sheet andrefrigeration were addedduring the 1970s.

The present four-sheetfacility was built in 1995,the effort led by GeoffGoodland and Doug Ottum.About that time, the namewas changed back to EauClaire Curling Club. Since2001, membership hasincreased from about 100 toover 300, due in part,according to the club’swebsite, to Olympic WinterGames exposure.

The late BernieBernicke, a founding mem-ber in 1956, kept a detailedlog that explains the painsof making ice without arti-ficial refrigeration, whichhe did for about twodecades. It took him over100 floods, in part because

the ground level wasuneven, requiring an icethickness of up to 5 3/4inches. Bernie’s notes (hehad great handwriting) indi-cate up to six floods eachday, if cold enough, fromsix each morning until 3a.m., from Thanksgiving toChristmas, when circleswere laid. Curling couldstart by the New Year. Theused compressor installedin the 1970s reduced flood-ing needs to about 35floods, over a much shorterperiod of time.

Even for a man wholived a block or so from theclub, this decades-long loveof icemaking was remark-able, and appreciated byEau Claire and visitingcurlers. Bernie, who died atage 96 last April, was hon-ored by being selected tothrow the first stone in thenew club in 1996.

Tale of a cold tail

This writer played quitea bit at the old club, in the1970s and 1980s, and as Irecall, the three sheets wereconsistently the fastest inthe state, even though therewas no heat, let alone dehu-midification or de-ionized

water, in the shed. I neverlearned the secret. In north-ern Wisconsin during thecurling season, “no heat”means very cold. The EauClaire club was so cold, amammoth could’ve beenpreserved in it. It was socold, they would set up akerosene heater on the icefor the players to stand infront of and warm them-selves.

Skips, who got littleexercise, needed variouslayers of clothing to sur-vive, and could hardly set-tle down in the hack untilmaybe the third end, afterrepeated sliding loosenedtheir clothes. The roof wasbare boards, since insula-tion was not needed to keepthe club ice cold. Whitesnow crystals would formon the metal nail heads inthe boards, and the littledevils would fall on the iceduring the game, a bit dis-tracting but rarely interfer-ing with a shot. Those werethe days, when differentclubs had truly huge varia-tions in ice conditions. Theterm “reading ice” seemedto mean more when therewas so much more to read.



David Garber,[email protected]

Tales From

Sheet Nine

Art of icemaking redefined in cold Eau Claire

I

The USWCA sincerely thanks our sponsors:

Hot Shots Curling Camp, Rock It gurl and Brooms Up

Congratulations 2011-2012

USWCA Event Champions!

30th Annual Senior

Women’s Bonspiel at Nutmeg

Mayfield CC - Skip Dee Montgomery, Paula

Forsythe, Kathy Collins, Leslie Cooke

64th Annual

National

Women’s Bonspiel

at St. Paul

Madison CC - Skip

Lori Karst, Mary

Parker, Dawn Nonn,

Becky Reinhart

The Junior Bonspiels

At Cape Cod Curling Club

Broomstones CC - Skip Jack Kelly,

Chase Sinnett, Clayton Kincaid, Jake Yankee

At Duluth Curling Club

Madison CC - Skip Rebecca Hamilton, Tara

Peterson, Karlie Koenig, Sophie Brorson

At Exmoor Curling Club

Midland CC - Skip Wes Pedersen,

Aaron Carlson, BJ Kent, Wesley Swartz,

Brandon Wichman

Advertising disclaimer“None of the advertisers in this publication are

agents of the U.S. Curling Association, which hereby disclaims any liability for acts of any of the advertisers.”

Championship season continues across the globe

As this issue of the U.S. Curling News

went to press, two national championshipsand five world championships were stillyet to be determined this season.

The Mankato Curling Club will host 20of the top curling teams in the U.S. as the2012 USA Curling Club NationalChampionships are contested March 3-10.At the same time, Team USA, led by CoryChristensen and Stephen Dropkin, hits theice in Sweden at the 2012 World JuniorChampionships.

The top 10 mixed teams will battle forthe national title when the Portage CurlingClub in Portage, Wis., plays host to the2012 USA Curling Mixed NationalChampionship March 17-24. At the sametime, Allison Pottinger and Team USA willgo for the gold at the 2012 Ford WorldWomen’s Championship in Lethbridge,Alberta, March 17-25.

Six U.S. teams will compate in the U18International Optimist Bonspiel April 4-8in Ontario. Heath McCormick and TeamUSA head to Basel, Switzerland, for the2012 World Men’s Curling ChampionshipMarch 30-April 8.

To conclude the championship season,USA’s senior teams led by Ian Journeauxand Pam Oleinik head to Denmark for the2012 World Senior Championships, April14-21, and Seattle’s Brady and CristinClark look to earn USA’s first-ever medalat the 2012 World Mixed DoublesChampionship, April 23-29 in Erzurum,Turkey.

Keep checking for updates atwww.usacurl.org to find out if live web-streaming will be available from the aboveexciting events.

Winning moments, like the one above shared by

2012 national champions Team McCormick, are

cherished for curlers who have worked many

years to reach the top.

Photo by Stephan’s Fine Photography

he regional championshipevent at Bowling Green(Ohio) was a 20- team sellout Feb. 17-19. Final

results and details are not in yet butwill be reported in the next Curling

News.

The next regional event will beat Kettle Moraine (Hartland, Wis.)on March 10-11. At press time, theevent was filled with 24 teams witha wait list being tallied. ContactMike Schuder at [email protected] if you have any questions.This will be a two-day event onwill feature three games onSaturday and finals on Sunday.

There is still time to sign up forthe Broomstones event just outsideBoston. The sign-up deadline wasMarch 1 but a waiting list will bestarted, if necessary. This will bethe first College CurlingChampionship event held at theBroomstones Curling Club. Withplenty teams from the East, thisone should be very competitive.Remember, any college team canget in. Late teams may still have achance to sign-up. Contact MonicaWalker at [email protected] inquire.

After 20 years, the NationalCollege Curling ChampionshipTourament, held through the yearsat Eau Claire, Wauwatosa, St. Paul,Madison, and in recent years, the

Chicago and North Shore clubs,saw some changes.

This season, in order to maketravel easier and cheaper, we modi-fied our business model to aregional format. We announcedseparate regional events at threefine clubs spread around curlingland. We held our breath. Wouldthe regional idea work? How manyteams would participate?

We need not have worried. Thecollege program continues to bepopular and successful. Our cuprunneth over. This season 60-plusteams will play in three regionalevents as a climax to the regularseason, compared with 32 teams inprevious years.

These three events are being

hosted by three fine clubs and theirmembers. Our hats are off withmany thanks to Nick Derksen,Bowling Green; Mike Schuder,Kettle Moraine; and MonicaWalker, Broomstones. Our appreci-ation to all of you.

College curling, and all of ourevents are funded mainly by TheChicago Community Trust andadministered and hosted by theIllinois State Curling Foundation(and backed and supported by thedirectors of the Foundation). Weacknowledge the help of the count-less clubs and members who havehelped the program in so manyways through the years.



College Curling

Participation in regional events doublesby Rich Larko,

College Curling Coordinator

T

VOTE: Continued fromPage 1

To recognize the growthand maturity of the USCA asa national organization, theproposed governance changeseeks to implement a nation-al election for the member-elected members of theBoard and the threeStanding Committees—Nominating, Judicial andEthics. Thus, the member-elected Directors and com-mittee persons are expectedto apply a national perspec-tive, focused on what is inthe best interest of the wholerather than taking the per-spective of how will thiseffect a particular state orregion. The states andregions will remain as sepa-rate organizations whosefocus and purpose will con-tinue to be on their respec-tive state’s and region’sinterests.

By recognizing the indi-vidual curling clubs as themembers of the USCA, thiswill give each club theopportunity to have a directvoice and vote. This directvoice and vote is consistentwith the fact that it is theindividual curling clubs,through the dues paid bytheir curler members, whoprovide direct financial sup-port to the USCA.

The preceding outlinesthe basic changes sought inthe proposed governancereform. Each club, throughtheir respective states andregions, is asked to supportthe proposed governancereform if they support theprincipals expressed by thebasic changes sought. Thedetails have been thoroughlyvetted over the past 15months and will probably besubject to further tweakingin the future. However, thevote this Spring should befocused upon whether thereis an acceptance of thesebasic principles. These are:to implement a structure thatboth gives focus and priorityto the national scope of the

USCA policies and pro-grams, and a structure thatrecognizes and implements abusiness-like distinctionbetween the Board as a poli-cy, strategic planning bodyand the CEO and the paidstaff, supported by volun-teers, as the operational armof the organization.

As individuals, we cometogether to form our curlingclubs. Let us join togetherin a common purpose span-ning our curling communitynationwide to support thisgovernance change to propelthe USCA into the future asan effective organizationpursuing excellence in all ofthe programs and services ofthe USCA.

Signed,

Pam Finch, President,Denver Curling Club

Ron Giedt, Training &Education Chairman, CircleCity Curling Club

Cynthia Smith, VicePresident, Colorado CurlingAssociation

Leland Rich, member,Governance Task Force

John Kram, president,North Dakota CurlingAssociation

Kent Beadle, Member,USCA Governance TaskForce

Dena Rosenberry,President, Colorado CurlingAssociation

Chris Sjue, USCA presi-dent

David Carlson, chairman,USCA Governance TaskForce

Dick McCartney, presi-dent, Grand NationalCurling Club

Jonathan Havercroft,president, Oklahoma CurlingClub

Sean Silver, Illinois,USCA board member andtreasurer

Jack Bernauer, ChicagoCurling Club treasurer

Jim Pleasants,Washington, USCA vicepresident

Doug Boyd, president,Illinois Curling Association

Sportmanship still key part of curling

Team North Dakota I would like topublicly thank the Curtis family for spon-soring the peer-selected Curtis CupSportsmanship Awards at the JuniorNational Championships. We were trulyhonored to be chosen for rememberingthis aspect of the game that may notalways be built into other sports of theday. It’s still a gentleman’s sport whereplayers respect the game and the othercompetitors both on and off the ice.Thanks again to the Curtis family for theircontribution in maintaining and buildingthe character of our future curling leaders.

Good curling,Rachel Tharalson, Skip Anna Hopkins, Vice Jesa Legacie, Second Emily Brekke, Lead, Christina Lammers, Fifth

Sportsmanship was on full display at the 2012 Junior

Nationals in Madison, Wis., last month.

When the two GNCC women’s teams played each

other, they started the game with a group hug and all-

hands-in cheer before and after their match. In addi-

tion, every GNCC team was present at every draw

throughout the week to support one another, according

to information shared with the U.S. Curling News.

Submitted photo

Eight-Ender

Wauwatosa, Wis.

The Jim Kaczmarek rink of JeremyMcKenzie, Vince Kelber and Cheryl Doudwere down by five points going into thefourth end of their second game in theWauwatosa Curling Club Chili ’Spiel onFeb. 4, 2012. After his second shot, a take-

out requiring a runback around a guard toremove the opposing team’s shot rock,McKenzie said, “You know, Jim, we’re sit-ting six with two shots to go.” WhileKaczmarek admitted that the comment did-n’t help his nerves, he was able to draw tothe house with his final skip’s stone toscore an eight-ender.



Winter meeting proves productive, successful

he winter meetingof the UnitedStates Women’sCurling

Association was held Feb.13-18 in St. Paul, Minn.,and was well attended byofficers, committees andclub representatives. Themeeting was both success-ful and productive. TheUSWCA does recognizethat to continue our suc-cess, we need to explore

ways to continue our workoutside of the fall and win-ter meetings. To that end,each committee has beenchallenged to have a “virtu-al meeting” either by e-mailor conference call beforenext fall. Officers and rep-resentatives will worktogether to make that hap-pen. Technology presentsnew and improved methodsto work efficiently whilemembers are at a distance.

Last year, the USWCAbegan a strategic planninginitiative. The followingstrategic planning goals

were unveiled at the wintermeeting:

1-The USWCA is the

acknowledged leader in thesport of curling for grassroots education, programs,and opportunities for youthand women of all ages.

2-The USWCA is a vitalresource promoting devel-opment, interactions andeducation for curling com-munities.

3-The USWCA is anorganization that creates,fosters and develops anational network of repre-sentatives to grow the sportof curling.

4-The USWCA has agovernance structure that

makes the most effectiveuse of the time, talent, andexperience available to us,seeks to develop futureleaders of the organizationand reflects our geographicdiversity.

5-The USWCA is afinancially healthy organi-zation that raises the fundsneeded to support its pro-grams and priorities.

The women of theUSWCA are more thanequal to the task of meetingthese goals and demonstrat-ing that we truly are the“Heart of Curling.”

Exmoor USWCA Junior Bonspiel champions were (l-r)

Wes Pedersen, Aaron Carlson, BJ Kent, Wesley Swartz and

Brandon Wichman of Midland Curling Club.

by Maureen Guay,

USWCA president

Guay

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Three successful junior bonspiels in the books

he USWCA hassponsored juniorbonspiels for adozen years. As I

looked over one of the tro-phies, I saw many namesthat have continued on tobe very successful men’sand women’s curlers. It isgreat to see that the timeput into holding juniorevents is fostering a lovefor the game that stays withthe athletes into their adultlives.

The USWCA sponsoredthree junior bonspiels thisyear, in which 49 teams ofcurlers competed in bothcompetitive and develop-mental divisions. The bon-spiels were held at the CapeCod Curling Club, ExmoorCountry Club and DuluthCurling Club.

The West Region’s bon-spiel was held at the DuluthCurling Club in conjunctionwith the Bert PayneMemorial Bonspiel. Thebonspiel included 12 teamsin the competitive division,nine in the developmentaland three in the recreationaldivision. The teams werefrom Minnesota andWisconsin, with BeccaHamilton, Tara Peterson,Karlie Koenig and SophieBrorson from Madison win-ning the competitive divi-sion. The runner-up teamwas Derek Peterson, AlexPatterson, Ian Mathis andSonja Bauman from St.Paul.

In the developmentaldivision, the winning teamwas Jon Harstad, ColtonMilner, Brody Russell andJace Brademan fromDuluth. The runner-up teamwas Carter Peterson,Brandon Wipson, Nick

Jordan, and Ryan Rice fromDuluth and Chisholm.

The Central Region’sbonspiel was held atExmoor Curling Club.Nine teams from Michigan,Illinois and Wisconsin com-peted in two divisions. Thetitle was captured by WesPedersen, Aaron Carlson,BJ Kent, Wesley Swartzand Brandon Wichmanfrom the Midland CurlingClub. The runner-up teamwas from Exmoor andskipped by Shannon Brownwith an all-star vice, AlexHarlow from the DallasCurling Club, and SusanneFluri and Sarah Calcutt,also from Exmoor.

The developmental divi-sion was won by LoganCook, Wesley Swartz, WillHackbarth and MarcusMinardi of the MidlandCurling Club. The runner-up team was also fromMidland with KevinPrzygocki skipping, AlexJohnson as vice, AustinFransdsen at second, andIan Strong as lead.

The East Region’sBonspiel was held at theCape Cod Curling Club aspart of its annual JuniorSpiel. Participating curlerscame from Broomstones,Cape Cod, Nashua,Nutmeg, Petersham,Schenectady, Utica and TheCountry Club. Awards weregiven for the top two teamsin four events. TheUSWCA and HeislerTrophy went to theBroomstones rink skippedby Jack Kelly with team-mates Chase Sinnett,Clayton Kincaid and JakeYankee. The second event –the Fuller Trophy – waswon by the Cape Cod teamof Truman Dunkley, DaliusKleinas, Austin Sylvesterand Marius Kleinas. Thethird event Jones Trophy

was won by the TCCBrookline team skipped byMatt Greene with BenDoughty, Rebecca Kraneand James Richardson. Thefourth event was won bythe Schenectady/Utica teamof Blake Hagberg, RaquelHillis, Valerie Spencer andAshlyn Hillis.

Three very successfulUSWCA-sponsored eventswere held this season. TheUSWCA is proud to helpsponsor events for emerg-ing curlers. It is our goal tosupport grassroots curlingacross the country.Providing events for juniorsis vital to the continuedsuccess of curling in theU.S. Travel assistance wasavailable to teams travelingto these ’spiels. Thanks tothe clubs and individualswho made these events hap-pen. Please contact me [email protected] ifyou would like to be part ofthe magic of the junior curl-ing for the upcoming sea-sons.

Duluth USWCA Junior Bonspiel champions were (l-r) Madison’s

Tara Peterson, Karlie Koenig, Rebecca Hamilton and Sophie

Brorson.

Cape Cod USWCA Junior Bonspiel champions were (l-r)

Jack Kelly, Chase Sinnett, Clayton Kincaid and Jake Yankee of

Broomstones.

by Leslie Armstrong, USWCA

Junior Bonspiel Chairwoman

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At the USWCA Annual

Dinner held Feb. 16 at the

Crowne Plaza Hotel in St.

Paul, Minn., 16 women

with two alternates were

selected to be members of

the 2012 Friendship Tour to

the beautiful province of

British Columbia. The Tour

members will arrive in

Victoria, British Columbia,

on Oct. 31, with their curl-

ing events beginning on

Nov. 1.

The Friendship Tour

takes place every six years,

with this Tour being the

fourth time the United

States USWCA women

have traveled to a Canadian

province. The Canadian

ladies have been touring the

United States for 18 years,

with their last tour to the

Central and Wisconsin

regions in 2009.

The Tour women were

selected by the 2006

Friendship tour members

Carolyn MacLeod, Janet

Farr, Jeannie Borland,

Karen Ronk, Barb Hamm,

and Cathy Offinger, who

were attending the banquet.

Congratulations to the

2012 USWCA Friendship

Tour members:

East: Wendy Berger,

Albany; Coco Wellington,

Cape Cod; Alisa McCann;

Philadelphia; and Joan

Partridge, The County

Club.

Central: Martha

Mazzarella, Bowling

Green; Karen Hamilton,

Columbus; Susan Tortorelli,

Detroit; Laurie Rahn,

Exmoor; and Anne Vanic,

Mayfield.

Wisconsin: Carla Lynch,

Madison; Paula Kalke,

Racine; and Mary Pat

Shandor from Kettle, who

is unable to participate so

the first alternate Jackie

Shuster, Chisholm, will go

in her place.

West: Myrna

MacKinnon, Arden Hills;

Nancy Myers, Aksarben;

Rielly Mannery, Granite;

and Molly Jensen, St. Paul.

First alternate chosen is

Jackie Shuster from

Chisholm, Minn., and sec-

ond alternate is Majik Jones

from Chesapeake from the

East.

Five of the 16 team

members were on hand for

the drawing: Martha

Mazzarella, Coco

Wellington, Molly Jensen,

Myrna MacKinnon, and

one of the alternates, Majik

Jones.

The proposed itinerary

has the tour members arriv-

ing in Victoria to spend

three days curling on

Vancouver Island before

traveling to the mainland

where they will curl for

four-five days at interior

curling clubs, then back to

curl their last three days in

the Vancouver area. The

last day of curling and the

final ceremonies will be

Nov. 11. The tour will

return to the United States

on Nov. 12.

Coordinators for the tour

are Committee Chair-

woman Roberta Crain,

Jeannie Borland, Maggie

McMahon, Karen Ronk,

Michelle Drlaca, Kathy

Hyslop, Janet Farr, Luci

Schey, Saralee Schneck and

Charlene Fitzgerald.



Karst rink captures USWCA title

he 64th AnnualUSWCA NationalBonspiel, “Rockin’on the River,” was

held in St. Paul, Minn.,from Feb. 15-19 and washosted by the Arden HillsCairn Lassies.

The event kicked offwith a welcome kit party atthe St. Paul Curling Clubon Wednesday evening. Thecommittee in charge decid-ed that a Scandinaviantheme was in order and asmorgasbord of herring,lox, open-faced sandwich-es, Swedish meatballs andBundt cakes were servedup. The opening ceremonyfeatured St. Paul curlerMike Crea and his “buttonbox” accordion playing amedley of polkas.

Holding the broom forthe ceremonial throwing ofthe first rock was PaulaArnold, who is a foundingmember of both the St. PaulBonnie Spielers and theArden Hills Cairn Lassies.A soon-to-be 85 years old,

Arnold is still actively curl-ing with the Cairn Lassiesand helped out on theHospitality Committee.President Maureen Guaythrew the opening stone,which was swept to the but-ton by eight past presidents.

The bonspiel began onThursday morning with twodraws and a banquet thatevening at the CrownePlaza Hotel. A trio of sistersaptly named “Sister” pro-vided the entertainment andfour young ladies from theMinnesota Youth Orchestraplayed their violins duringthe dinner.

Four draws a day onFriday and Saturday, whichfeatured some excellentcurling, brought us to thefinals on Sunday. Fridayevening the house partywas held at the St. PaulCurling Club and an Italianbuffet was enjoyed by all.The head official, DonnaStatzell, provided trainingfor the timers and she andtwo assistants ably oversawtheir work.

On Sunday morning, inkeeping with tradition, the

finalists were piped ontothe ice. The Fourth Eventwas a match between twoEastern area clubs –Potomac and Utica – withPotomac prevailing. TheThird Event saw a Duluthteam hold on to win overCape Cod. The SecondEvent had an interestingmatch-up of old and newUSWCA clubs. A teamfrom Coyote Curling Clubin Arizona skipped bySusan Lang was defeatedby Marcy Calaway’s teamfrom Exmoor (Illinois) –one of the original USWCAclubs. The first event sawtwo Wisconsin teams pittedagainst each other – LoriKarst’s Madison 2 teamdefeated Bonnie Dixon’sKettle Moraine 1 squad.

The weather Gods werekind to us providing sun-shine and warm weather,which made sightseeingaround St. Paul an enjoy-able experience. The CairnLassies were proud andhonored to host this year’sevent.

Here are the final results:1EW—Madison II: Lori

Karst, Mary Parker, DawnNonn, Becky Reinhart

1ERU—Kettle MoraineI: Bonnie Dixon, Pat VanTill, Kathy Hyslop, CarolStevenson

2EW—Exmoor: MarcyCalaway, Tracy Lawless,Leslie Armstrong,Anneliese Crawford

2ERU—Coyotes: SusanLang, Carol Ann Naso,Denise Juillard, MaryJordan

3EW—Duluth: Linda

Christensen, BeckyJohansen, Barb Payette,Lucy DeVore

3ERU—Cape Cod:Matina Heisler, MaryColacchio, Cathy Offinger,Liz Abeltin

4EW—Potomac: DawnFindlay, DominiqueBanville, Susan Armiger,Virginia Chalmers

4ERU—Utica: MicheleMacEnroe, Susan Williams,Melissa Foote, AudreyFoote

Curling Pin silent auctionhelps Norfolk Curling Club

Winners of the 2012 USWCA National Bonspiel were Madison’s

Lori Karst, Mary Parker, Dawn Nonn and Becky Reinhart.

2012 Friendship Tour members selected

by Rose-Marie Barton, 2012

National Bonspiel Chair

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by Charlene Fitzgerald, 2012

Friendship Tour Committee

Present for the selection of the USWCA 2012 Friendship Tour

were (l-r) Majik Jones, Myrna MacKinnon, Martha Mazzarella,

Molly Jenson and Coco Wellington.

At the WinterMeeting of theUSWCA, part of alarge collection of oldercurling pins was usedfor a silent auction tohelp the NorfolkCurling Club’sRebuilding Fund. Theclub was destroyed byan arson fire in December. The pins were from alarge collection given to The Country Club by pastcurlers or their families.

The Board of the USWCA voted to donate all themoney raised from this auction of 124 pins and madea contribution to their Rebuilding Fund in the sum of$2,080.



The USWCA strives to promote the sport of curlingthroughout the United States and to enhance communi-cation between our nation’s curling clubs. One of theavenues the organization uses to provide direct com-munication is through member club representatives.

Each USWCA club has an elected representativeand within each area or region, one representativeserves as a regional liaison. This helps to ensure directcommunication and feedback, and aids in identifyingareas where the USWCA can help and support itsmember clubs.

If you would like to connect with an area regionalliaison, want additional information about becoming aUSWCA representative, or if you would like to learnabout the benefits of USWCA membership, here is theinformation for your area:

East:Elaine Ritchie/Lee Ladd,[email protected]

Central: Cathy Westphal, [email protected]: Mary Beth Goelzer,

[email protected] I: Diane Davis, [email protected] II: Kelly Stevens, [email protected] you are not sure which area your curling club is

in, you may contact Bridget Matzke, chairwoman ofthe Area Regional Liaisons and First Vice President ofthe USWCA at [email protected].

he Mayfield Curling Clubin South Euclid, Ohio, willhost “Jamaica Me Crazy,”the 31st Senior Women’s

Bonspiel on Wednesday, Nov. 28through Sunday, Dec. 2. It will be a24-team bonspiel on three sheets ofice.

The bonspiel will kick off with a

Kit Party the evening of Nov. 28.Curling will take place Thursdaythrough Sunday with the finals onSunday at 10:30 a.m.

To be eligible to curl in thisgreat bonspiel, you must havereached the age of 55 before Jan. 1,2013, and have paid USWCA duesfor the 2011-12 season. Entrantsmust curl in at least one league at aUSWCA member club and pay fulldues at their registered club. Three

team members must be members ofthe same club and all team mem-bers must be from the sameUSWCA region.

Invitations, along with an intentform, will be mailed before the endof this curling season, with a dead-line for the intent form to bereturned next August. However, aninvite can be sent any time prior tothe deadline.

Please check with your club’s

USWCA representative for moreinformation and a copy of the invi-tation.

So, start to form your team andmake plans to have a crazy goodtime at the Mayfield Curling Club’s“Jamaica Me Crazy” USWCASenior Woman’s Bonspiel next fall.For more information, visitwww.uswca.org or send an e-mailto [email protected]. We hope tosee you there!

Jamaica-themed senior bonspiel setby Jeannie Borland,

USWCA Senior Bonspiel Committee

Lean on regionalliaisons to stay in

touch with USWCA

The USWCA Circuitfor the season is wellunderway. Fifteenwomen’s bonspiels todate are participatingnationwide and the com-petition has beenkeen. Last season’snational winner, ShelleyPilon of the ExmoorCurling Club, wasawarded the winner’strophy, sponsored byBrooms Up CurlingSupplies, and a checkfor $850 from the

USWCA. Developed to encour-

age women’s curlingand bonspiel participa-tion, the event has beena success. Women fromConnecticut to Seattleare attending bonspielswith the added incentiveof cash prizes, HotShot’s Curling Campscholarships andBrooms Up CurlingSupplies gift certificatesfor the regionalwinners. Sponsor RockItGurl provides each par-ticipating bonspiel withmerchandise for theirraffle.

USWCA’s CircuitEvent off to

a roaring startby Jennifer Stannard,

USWCA Circuit Committee

by Bridget Matzke, Chairwoman,

Area Regional Liaisons

he release of USA Curling’s firstsport education resource hasbeen swept down the ice andlanded on the button. To date the

book has been purchased in eight differ-ent countries with sales exceeding expec-tations and the initial printing of 250.With a second printing now complete,USA Curling has decided to extend theintroductory purchase price to all mem-bers until March 30.

What is The Five Elements of Curling

Technique book?

The Five Elements of CurlingTechnique© manual is the first in what isexpected to be a growing library ofresources developed by USA Curling.This first book focuses exclusively oncurling technique. The book was co-authored by Rodger Schmidt with inputfrom our U.S. national team coaches andselect Olympians. The book provides theframework for curlers of all ages andabilities to improve their curling delivery.Rather than develop a specific teachingmethodology, the book identifies and dis-cusses the five most common elementsthat exist in the best techniques oftoday’s top international, world-classcurlers.

What are the Five Elements?

The Five Elements are a core theme inall USA Curling sport educationresources. The five elements reflect thefive areas required for success in thesport of curling identified in July 2009by a group of top U.S. coaches and ath-letes. These elements are technical, tacti-cal/strategy, team systems, mental skills,and physical conditioning. As USACurling develops resources for our curl-ing community, they will fall under oneof the core “Five Elements” categories.

How can I learn more?

Interested USA Curling members canlearn more about the book by previewinga copy, or listening to interviews with co-author Rodger Schmidt and curling’s2010 U.S. Olympic coaches, as well asOlympian and current Project 2018 coachJohn Benton. The links can be found onthe USA Curling website atwww.usacurl.org.

How can I get a copy?

Orders can be placed through theonline ordering site link, which can befound at www.usacurl.org (look for theFive Elements manual logo). All USACurling members may purchase the book

for an introductory price of $24.95 plus$8.95 shipping and handling until March30, 2012. Members must enter the pro-motion code CURLMEM5EB whenplacing their order. The discount will beapplied at checkout.

What formats are available?

The book is available in traditionalprint format as well as E-Book forKindle and Ipad.

Will more resources be produced?

USA Curling Sport Education, incooperation with the Curling AcademyRodger Schmidt, is presently working ona second book titled “The Five Elementsof Shotmaking.”

“We are pleased with the responsefrom both the U.S. and international curl-ing community,” said Scott Higgins,director of USA Curling’s SportEducation department. “A primary out-come of the USA Curling sport educationprogram is to make relevant, world-classcurling knowledge available to our curl-ing community. We understand improv-ing an individual’s level of knowledge inhis or her sport will positively affect therecruitment, retention, and longevity ofthe individual in that sport for ourregions and clubs. We believe the pro-duction of this first resource for ourmembership represents a significant steptoward the achievement of that outcome.With the E-book now available forKindle and Ipad readers, I am certainsales will continue to be strong.”

The book is dedicated in honor of for-mer USA Curling President Chris Moore.A portion of the proceeds from sales willsupport the Chris Moore Legacy Fund.

“The expertise and ideas contributedby a wide range of people from both theUSA and abroad—including Olympicmedalists and world-class coaches—iswhat has made ‘The Five Elements ofCurling Technique’ such a unique andwell-received book,” said Rick Patzke,chief operating officer of USA Curling.“As others who have gone through pub-lishing a book well know, there is a tonof time and effort involved in the produc-tion, and Scott’s facilitation of theprocess and oversight of all of the mov-ing parts was key. The Sport Educationgroup is already well into the develop-ment of the next manual in the series—“The Five Elements of Shot Making”—and I am sure it will be a great additionto the first book.”

Strong sales of manuallead to second printing

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eams skipped byStephen Dropkinof Massachusettsand Cory

Christensen of Minnesotawon the 2012 USA CurlingJunior NationalChampionship titles onFeb. 4 at the MadisonCurling Club inMcFarland, Wis. Bothteams will now representthe U.S. at the 2012 WorldJunior ChampionshipsMarch 3-11 in Oestersund,Sweden. The U.S. men lastwon gold at the WorldJuniors in 2008 while thelast – and only – women’sgold was won in 2002.

Dropkin (Southborough,Mass.) and teammatesKorey Dropkin(Southborough, Mass.),Thomas Howell (Brick,N.J.), Derek Corbett(Rochester, N.Y.) andCameron Ross (PrincetonJunction, N.J.) became thefirst team from the EastCoast to win the juniornationals when they defeat-ed Blake Morton’sWisconsin 2 rink, 9-8.

Dropkin’s team startedaggressive with four pointsin the first end and addedfour more in the third endto lead 8-1 after just threeends of play. Morton(McFarland, Wis.) andteammates Marcus Fonger(Cottage Grove, Wis.),Tommy Juszczyk(Madison, Wis.), CalvinWeber (McFarland, Wis.)and Chris Bond (Madison,Wis.) staged a comebackthereafter, scoring a singlein the fourth and stealing asingle in each of the next

three ends to pull withinthree points at 8-5.Massachusetts scored onemore in the eighth end, butthe Wisconsin team keptthings interesting with adeuce in the ninth to pullwithin two points with oneend remaining in thematch. Wisconsin wouldsteal one more point but itwas not enough to com-plete the comeback.

This was StephenDropkin’s ninth consecu-tive appearance at JuniorNationals with last year’ssilver finish being his bestperformance until this yearwhen the team wentthrough the competitionwith a perfect 11-0 record.The championship title wincontinues an impressiveseason by the Dropkinrink. The team has wontwo Great Lakes CurlingTour events, two OntarioCurling Tour events, theGrand National regionalplaydowns, and KoreyDropkin earned a bronzemedal just two weeks agoin mixed doubles at the2012 Youth OlympicGames.

This is the first junior

men’s title for a team fromMassachusetts since theJunior Men’s Nationalsbegan in 1974.

In an all Minnesotawomen’s gold-medal game,Christensen’s team fromDuluth captured the 2012USA Curling JuniorNationals women’s title.Christensen and her teamof Elizabeth Busche, AnnaBauman and SonjaBauman (all of Duluth,Minn.) defeated MirandaSolem’s team 10-8 to wintheir first junior nationaltitle. They finished thetournament with a 9-2record.

In a back-and-forthgold-medal match, Solem(Cohasset, Minn.) and herteam of Mackenzie Lank(Lewiston, N.Y.), JulieLilla (Trempealeau, Wis.),Chelsea Solem (Cohasset,Minn.) and Becca Funk(Madison, Wis.) scoredfour points in the fourthend to take their first leadof the game at 5-3. A stealof two in the following endthen gave Solem’s reigningMinnesota state juniorchampions a bigger lead at7-3.

But, the lead would beshort-lived as Christensen’steam worked its way backinto the match. The teamsexchanged singles over thenext two ends withMinnesota II closing thegap to 8-6 by scoring adeuce in the eighth end.Christensen’s team closedout the final two ends withback-to-back steals of twopoints to earn the win andgold medal. This was thesecond straight runner-upfinish for Solem’s team atthe Junior Nationals.

Minnesota, Massachusetts capture junior titles

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

2012 Junior Women’s Nationals

Round Robin

Wisconsin II (Hamilton) 8-1Minnesota II (Christensen) 7-2Minnesota I (Solem) 6-3New York (Ely) 6-3Wisconsin I (Haag) 5-4Alaska (Persinger) 5-4North Dakota II (Lindgren) 4-5North Dakota I (Tharalson) 2-7Washington (Sweet) 1-8Massachusetts (Walker) 1-8

Page Playoffs 1-2:

*Wisconsin II 030 010 003 0 – 7Minnesota II 001 102 030 1 – 8

Page Playoffs 3-4:

*Minnesota I 100 012 011 x – 6New York 000 100 100 x – 2

Semifinal:

*Wisconsin II 211 010 001 x – 6Minnesota I 000 102 230 x – 8

Championship final:

*Minnesota II 102 001 022 2 – 10Minnesota I 010 420 100 0 – 8*last stone in first end

Curtis Cup Sportsmanship

Award recipients:

North Dakota 1: Rachel Tharalson,Anna Hopkins, Jesa Legacie, EmilyBrekke and Christina Lammers

Katie Beck memorial Award:

Jesa Legacie, second, Team NorthDakota I

All-Star Team:

Skip: Becca Hamilton, Wisconsin IIVice: Tara Peterson, Wisconsin IISecond: Karlie Koenig, Wisconsin IILead: Sophie Brorson, Wisconsin II

gold medalists:

Minnesota 2: Cory Christensen,Elizabeth Busche, Anna Bauman,Sonja Bauman (all of Duluth, Minn.)

Silver medalists:

Minnesota 1: Miranda Solem(Cohasset, Minn.), Mackenzie Lank(Lewiston, N.Y.), Julie Lilla(Trempealeau, Wis.), Chelsea Solem(Cohasset, Minn.), Becca Funk(Madison, Wis.)

Bronze medalists:

Wisconsin 2: Becca Hamilton(McFarland, Wis.), Tara Peterson(Eagan, Minn.), Karlie Koenig(Oconomowoc, Wis.), SophieBrorson (Duluth, Minn.)

2012 Junior men’s Nationals

Round Robin

Massachusetts (Dropkin) 9-0Wisconsin II (Morton) 6-3Wisconsin I (Jensen) 5-4North Dakota II (Kakela) 5-4Minnesota I (Meyers) 5-4Washington (Vukich) 4-5New Hampshire (Clark) 4-5Minnesota II (Wright) 3-6North Dakota I (Kitchens) 2-7Alaska (Flippo) 2-7

Tiebreaker:

*Minnesota I 102 010 000 0 – 4North Dakota II 020 201 010 1 – 7

Page Playoffs 1-2:

*Massachusetts 101 110 20x x – 6Wisconsin II 000 001 01x x – 2

Page Playoffs 3-4:

*Wisconsin I 000 200 210 0 – 5North Dakota II 110 021 000 1 – 6

Semifinal:

*Wisconsin II 010 021 02x x – 6North Dakota II 000 000 10x x – 1

Championship final:

*Massachusetts 404 000 010 0 – 9Wisconsin II 010 111 102 1 – 8*last stone in first end

Curtis Cup Sportsmanship

Award recipients:

Washington: Jake Vukich, EvanMcCauley, Luc Violette, KyleLorvick

All-Star Team:

Skip: Korey Dropkin, MassachusettsVice: Marcus Fonger, Wisconsin IISecond: Mark Fenner, Minnesota ILead: Alex Fenson, Minnesota I

gold medalists:

Massachusetts: Stephen Dropkin(Southborough, Mass.), KoreyDropkin (Southborough, Mass.),Thomas Howell (Brick, N.J.), DerekCorbett (Rochester, N.Y.), CameronRoss (Princeton Junction, N.J.)

Silver medalists:

Wisconsin 2: Blake Morton(McFarland, Wis.), Marcus Fonger(Cottage Grove, Wis.), TommyJuszczyk (Madison, Wis.), CalvinWeber (McFarland, Wis.), ChrisBond (Madison, Wis.)

Bronze medalists:

North Dakota 2: Kyle Kakela (Rolla,N.D.), Ryan Westby (Grand Forks,N.D.), Spencer Tuskowski(Minneapolis, Minn.), Kyson Smith(Minot, N.D.), Paul Tharalson(Hoople, N.D.)

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2012 USA Curling Junior National champions (back, l-r) Stephen Dropkin, Korey Dropkin,

Thomas Howell III, Derek Corbett and Cameron Ross from Massachusetts. Junior champions

(front, l-r) Cory Christensen, Elizabeth Busche, Anna Bauman and Sonja Bauman.

Photo by Rich Harmer

The Washington boys were the recipients of the Curtis Cup for

Sportsmanship. Team members include (l-r) Jake Vukich, Evan

McCauley, Luc Violette and Kyle Lorvick.


The North Dakota I girls were the recipients of the Curtis Cup

for Sportsmanship. Team members include (l-r) Rachel

Tharalson, Anna Hopkins, Jesa Legacie, Emily Brekke and

Christina Lammers. Photo by Rich Harmer

Jesa Legacie, second for Team

North Dakota I, was the recip-

ient of the Katie Beck

Memorial Award for excep-

tional play at the second posi-

tion.


amiliar faces willwear the red, whiteand blue at theupcoming World

Championships as TeamAllison Pottinger capturedthe gold medal Feb. 18 atthe 2012 USA CurlingNational Championships atIceWorks Skating Complex.

“It’s always fantastic butspecial this time,” saidPottinger, who won her firstnational title as skip. “Weall took the challenge andmoved up a spot andbrought Tab (Peterson) onthe team. We knew we’dhave to work at it and it’sso great to get the payoutand win. As a team, thegirls were fantastic all day.”

2010 OlympiansPottinger (Eden Prairie,Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad(Verona, Wis.) and NatalieNicholson (Bemidji, Minn.)along with two-time U.S.junior champion TabithaPeterson (Eagan, Minn.)will represent the U.S. atthe 2012 WorldChampionships March 17-25 in Lethbridge, Alberta,after defeating Team CassiePotter, 7-5. “We’re superexcited. We love wearingUSA on our backs andgoing to play and representthe U.S.,” Joraanstad said.

Despite today’s loss,Potter (St. Paul, Minn.) andteammates Jamie Haskell(White Bear Lake, Minn.),Jackie Lemke (Medford,Wis.) and StephanieSambor (Minot, N.D.) leavetoday with a berth in the2014 U.S. Olympic TeamTrials.

“It feels really good tohang in there and prove thatwe can stick with the rest ofthem,” said Potter, who rep-resented Team USA withher sister Jamie at the 2006Olympic Winter Games.“The playing field thisweek has been really even.A lot of junior teams arecoming up, and it’s not amatter of the top same twoor three teams anymore. It’sthe top five or six, which isreally good. I hope it keepsgetting better.”

This is the 10th nationaltitle for Pottinger, seventhfor Joraanstad, eighth forNicholson and first forPeterson. “It’s pretty nuts;it’s my first one so I can’tdescribe it,” said Peterson,22, who won two U.S. jun-ior titles and a world juniorbronze medal in 2010.

In comparison to thePage Playoff 1-2 game, thegold-medal match betweenPottinger and Potter had anaggressive start with lots ofrocks in play in the firstend. Team Pottinger scoredfirst as the skip made adraw through a narrow port

in the top of the house totap back Potter’s stone fortwo.

In the second end, Pottercould only see a smidgen ofthe button as she tried todraw for two to tie thegame, but she didn’t havethe line on it and settled forone. Potter stole a single inthe next end and the gamewas knotted 2-2. Pottingerextended the lead in thefourth end with a draw fortwo. Team Potter tried toblank the fifth end butPotter’s hit didn’t roll out.Pottinger added two morepoints in the seventh endwith another draw into thefour-foot.

Trailing now by threepoints, Team Potter missedout on an opportunity forthe deuce in the eighth endwhen Potter’s first stoneslipped out of the back ofthe house. They wouldblank that end and startover in the ninth end withTeam Potter capitalizing ona missed takeout byPottinger to score two.Needing to steal the 10thend, Team Potter was ableto keep the guards upthroughout the end and gotstones in play, but the gamewas won by Team Pottingerwhen Potter wasn’t able toconvert either of her run-back attempts to move herstone closer to the button.

“We were hoping thatwe’d keep it a close game.We’ve had a few gameswhere we were up on pointsand we’ve had a tough timeplaying defense so wewanted to keep it close andput a few more rocks inplay at the end of thegame,” Potter said. “We didpretty well. We had rocks inthere at the end and the lastone didn’t curl up as much.We were hoping for a littlebit more roll off the lastone.”

This is the first trip backto the Worlds since 2009for Pottinger, Joraanstadand Nicholson. They took a

year away from theNational Championshipsafter the 2010 OlympicWinter Games and finishedsecond last year in Fargo,N.D.

“It feels really, reallygood but especially coming

back from last year whenwe lost the finals. We feelgood about coming backthis week and playing reallywell and winning,” saidNicholson, who works as aregistered nurse and is themother of two daughters.


by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

2012 Women’s Nationals

Round Robin

Allison Pottinger 8-1Cassie Potter 7-2Alex Carlson 6-3Aileen Sormunen 6-3Maureen Stolt 5-4Erika Brown 5-4Becca Hamilton 4-5Patti Lank 3-6Kim Wapola 1-8Janice Langanke 0-9

Page Playoffs 1-2:

*Pottinger 100 110 000 12 – 6Potter 001 000 012 00 – 4

Page Playoffs 3-4:

*Carlson 010 010 0xx x – 2Sormunen 101 202 4xx x – 10

Semifinal:

*Potter 201 330 100 1 – 11Sormunen 020 002 023 0 – 9

Championship final:

*Pottinger 200 200 200 1 – 7Potter 011 010 002 0 – 5*last stone in first end

Ann Brown Sportsmanship

Award recipient:

Tara Peterson, vice skip, TeamHamilton

Top Five Stats leaders

(through round robin):

Skip:

Allison Pottinger, 81.9%Patti Lank, 74.1%Aileen Sormunen, 73.5%Cassie Potter, 73%Erika Brown, 72.2%

Vice skip:

Nicole Joraanstad (Pottinger), 83.5%Debbie McCormick (Brown), 79.8%Courtney George (Sormunen), 77.9%Jamie Haskell (Potter), 76.4%Monica Walker (Carlson), 73.6%

Second:

Jessica Schultz (Brown), 79.8%Emilia Juocys (Stolt), 77.5%Natalie Nicholson (Pottinger), 76.2%Jackie Lemke (Potter), 75.9%Amanda McLean (Sormunen), 72.7%

lead:

Tabitha Peterson (Pottinger), 79.8%Ann Swisshelm (Brown), 81.9%Miranda Solem (Sormunen), 76.8%Stephanie Sambor (Potter), 75.4%Sherri Schummer (Stolt), 74.4%

Team:

Team Pottinger, 81%Team Brown, 78.5%Team Sormunen, 75.2%Team Potter, 75.2%Team Lank, 73.1%

Gold medalists:

Team Pottinger: Allison Pottinger

(Eden Prairie, Minn.), Nicole

Joraanstad (Verona, Wis.),

Natalie Nicholson (Bemidji, Minn.),

Tabitha Peterson (Eagan, Minn.)

Silver medalists:

Team Potter: Cassie Potter (St. Paul,

Minn.), Jamie Haskell (Bemidji,

Minn.), Jackie Lemke (Medford,

Wis.), Stephanie Sambor (Minot,

N.D.) Bronze medalists:

Team Sormunen: Aileen Sormunen

(Duluth, Minn.), Courtney George

(St. Paul, Minn.), Amanda

McLean (Duluth, Minn.), Miranda

Solem (Cohasset, Minn.)

Pottinger rink returns to world championships

2012 women’s national champions (l-r) Allison Pottinger, Tabitha Peterson, Natalie Nicholson and

Nicole Joraanstad.


F

2012 Nationals runner-up Cassie Potter, who also is a 2006

Olympian, 2005 U.S. national champion, 2002 world junior

champion and two-time U.S. junior champion, was added as the

alternate for Team USA for the 2012 Women’s Worlds in

Lethbridge, Alberta.


Tabitha Peterson (left) and Natalie Nicholson show off their

sweeping prowess during the women’s gold medal match at the

2012 Nationals in Aston, Pa.

Photo by Jeff Albertini, JNA Media


eam USA will be

represented by

new faces on the

men’s side but

they are familiar on the

world scene as Heath

McCormick’s team cap-

tured the men’s 2012 USA

Curling National Champ-

ionships title on Feb. 18.

Team McCormick

dethroned Pete Fenson’s

national champions, 5-4, in

front of a sold-out crowd of

more than 1,300 fans at

IceWorks Skating Complex.

“It’s incredible. It’s super

exciting. It’s just kinda set-

ting in at the moment,” said

McCormick, 35, after the

win. “Obviously for the last

day I know that it was a

possibility, but you have to

tell yourself to stay in the

moment even when it

comes right down to it and

not get too far ahead of

yourself.”

This was the second

straight year a men’s team

has advanced through the

national championships

undefeated. This is the first

U.S. men’s title for

McCormick (Sarnia,

Ontario) and teammates

Bill Stopera (Briarcliff

Manor, N.Y.), Martin

Sather (Hastings-on-

Hudson, N.Y.) and Dean

Gemmell (Short Hills,

N.J.). They will now repre-

sent the U.S. at the 2012

World Men’s Championship

March 31-April 8 in Basel,

Switzerland.

“Pretty damn exciting;

we’ve been close in the

playoffs the last two years.

We got a new skip, and he’s

a fantastic player,” said

Gemmell after the win. “It’s

really exciting. None of us

have ever represented the

U.S. in a world event.

That’s exciting.”

McCormick sealed the

win with his first rock of

the final end – a freeze that

made Fenson’s final shot

one with a high degree of

difficulty.

“A game like that you

have to come and play

great. They played great,

and we made some mis-

takes,” Fenson said. “They

capitalized and the couple

of times they made a mis-

take, we couldn’t do that as

well as we needed to. They

just played terrific. They

played great all week and

went undefeated.”

Despite the loss, Fenson

(Bemidji, Minn.) and team-

mates Shawn Rojeski

(Chisholm, Minn.), Joe

Polo (Duluth, Minn.) and

Ryan Brunt (Bemidji,

Minn.) have accomplished

one goal – qualifying to the

2014 U.S. Olympic Team

Trials.

“That was our No. 1

goal. We agreed we wanted

to win all the nationals

between now and then and

try to win a world champi-

onship because we still

haven’t done that,” said

Fenson, who has won nine

U.S. titles and bronze at the

2006 Olympic Winter

Games. “But we also want

to go back and upgrade our

medal from the Olympics

so we had to qualify for the

Trials ... and we did that.

Once the pain starts to go

away from the loss, we

have that to look forward

to.”

McCormick struck first

with a routine takeout for

two in the opening end to

get things going. In the sec-

ond end, McCormick twice

wrecked on the guard as

they had Team Fenson on

the ropes. The result was a

big swing as Fenson drew

for two. McCormick was

forced to take one in the

fourth end but then stole a

single in the fifth after capi-

talizing on a missed last

shot by Fenson.

Fenson was forced to a

single in the sixth end to

close the gap to 4-3. After

the eighth end was blanked,

Fenson stole a point to tie

the game when

McCormick’s final stone

sunk behind the tee-line.

“We got two points in

the first end, which was

nice so we got off to a good

start. It was a sloppy sec-

ond end where we gave

them two points back but

then we leveled out,”

McCormick said. “I felt

like we were in control of

the game for the most part

and always had the pressure

on them. We couldn’t ask

for much more having the

hammer heading home.”

Team Fenson was forced

to a single in the ninth end,

giving Team McCormick

the hammer back to seal the

win in the 10th. Brunt got

the guards up and then they

got a stone in the house but

it was short-lived as Sather

converted a triple peel to

open things up. Fenson

froze his first stone to the

two McCormick stones in

the top of the four-foot.

McCormick followed him

down, leaving Fenson with

a runback but he couldn’t

convert and McCormick

didn’t need to throw his

final stone.

“He had a very, very dif-

ficult shot. When my first

rock came to rest I got

ahead of myself. I thought

it was basically in a spot

where he really didn’t have

a shot ... he basically didn’t.

They were unsure whether

they had a shot them-

selves,” McCormick said.

“When Martin made that

triple it was curtains,”

Fenson said. “Even if I

make it, he’s got a gimme

for the win. After the fact

we decided it was there.

But even if I make it he’s

got a nose hit for the win.”

The live webstreaming

throughout the 2012

Nationals was courtesy of

the 12th End Sports

Network and the U.S.

Olympic Committee and

brought in 189,428 unique

viewers throughout the

weeklong competition.

The 2013 Nationals will

take place Feb. 9-16, 2013,

at the Cornerstone

Community Center in

Green Bay, Wis.

2012 men’s Nationals

Round Robin

Heath McCormick 10-0Pete Fenson 9-1Craig Brown 7-3John Shuster 6-4Brady Clark 5-5Mike Farbelow 4-6Todd Birr 4-6Tyler George 4-6Eric Fenson 3-7Owen Sampson 2-8Blake Morton 1-9

Page Playoffs 1-2:

*McCormick 110 001 000 2 – 5P. Fenson 001 100 110 0 – 4

Page Playoffs 3-4:

*Brown 020 010 110 0 – 5Shuster 001 102 001 2 – 7

Semifinal:

*P. Fenson 100 200 110 3 – 8Shuster 002 002 001 0 – 5

Championship final:

*McCormick 200 110 000 1 – 5P. Fenson 020 000 101 0 – 4*last stone in first end

Ann Brown Sportsmanship

Award recipient:

Kroy Nernberger, vice skip, TeamBrown

Top Five Stats leaders

(through round robin):

Skip:

Heath McCormick, 80.6%Pete Fenson, 79.7%John Shuster, 78.4%Tyler George, 75.8%Craig Brown, 75.2%

Vice skip:

Shawn Rojeski (P. Fenson), 82.1%Kroy Nernberger (Brown), 81.9%Chris Plys (George), 81.8%Darren Lehto (Clark), 78.9%Bill Stopera (McCormick), 78.5%Zach Jacobson (Shuster), 78.5%

Second:

Joe Polo (P. Fenson), 88.1%Rich Ruohonen (George), 86.2%Jared Zezel (Shuster), 85.6%Matt Hamilton (Brown), 82.3%Doug Pottinger (Birr), 81%

lead:

Steve Lundeen (Clark), 84.1%Derrick Casper (Brown), 83.7%Ryan Brunt (P. Fenson), 82.8%John Landsteiner (Shuster), 81.4%Kevin Birr (Birr), 81.2%

Team:

Team P. Fenson, 83.2%Team Shuster, 81%Team George, 80.8%Team Brown, 80.8%Team McCormick, 79.2%

gold medalists:

Team McCormick: Heath

McCormick (Sarnia, Ontario), Bill

Stopera (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.),

Martin Sather (Hastings-on-Hudson,

N.Y.), Dean Gemmell (Short Hills,

N.J.)

Silver medalists:

Team Fenson: Pete Fenson (Bemidji,

Minn.), Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm,

Minn.), Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.),

Ryan Brunt (Bemidji, Minn.)

Bronze medalists:

Team Shuster: John Shuster (Duluth,

Minn.), Zach Jacobson (Langdon,

N.D.), Jared Zezel (Duluth, Minn.),

John Landsteiner (Duluth, Minn.)

McCormick rink set to represent U.S. at Worlds

T

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

2012 men’s national champions (l-r) Heath McCormick, Bill Stopera, Martin Sather and Dean

Gemmell.


2012 recipients of the Ann

Brown Sportsmanship Awards

were Kroy Nernberger and

Tara Peterson.

Team Fenson (above) was aiming for a three-peat in Aston but

fell to eventual champion Heath McCormick in the gold-medal

match, 5-4, in front of a sold-out crowd at IceWorks.

Photo by Jeff Albertini, JNA Media

If you arrived early you could get a front-row seat for the final

day of competition at the 2012 Nationals in Aston, Pa. Team

McCormick’s Martin Sather (left) and Bill Stopera became men’s

national champions for the first time and will head to

Switzerland to represent the U.S. at the 2012 Men’s Worlds.


fter a strong startto the week,things unraveledfor Team USA on

the final day of the roundrobin of the 2012 WorldWheelchair Championshipat the Uiam Ice Rink inChuncheon, South Korea.

USA’s team of PatrickMcDonald (Orangevale,Calif.), David Palmer(Mashpee, Mass.), JamesJoseph (New Hartford,N.Y.), Penny Greely (GreenBay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly(Rockford, Ill.) finishedfifth in the field of 10teams. The 6-4 overall fin-ish qualifies the U.S. for the2013 World WheelchairChampionship and earnspivotal 2014 Paralympic-qualifying points for theAmericans.

“I couldn’t be moreproud of them,” said SteveBrown (Madison, Wis.),Team USA head coach.“Here’s a team that was soinexperienced and had real-ly hardly ever playedtogether. Their teamdynamics have been fantas-tic. Their effort throughoutthe year, their practice andpreparation just exceededall their expectations.Obviously, it’s going to beextremely frustrating at thispoint to have played so welland then lose. All fourgames they lost, every sin-gle game was lost on thelast shot so it is just reallytough for them.”

In similarly eerie fash-ion, USA lost its finalround robin game toCanada, 7-5, with a miss onthe final stone of the extraend. That put theAmericans in the tiebreakergame against Slovakia toearn the final playoff berthbut this game ended thesame way as well for thisnew USA team.

In the round robin finalewith Canada’s DarrylNeighbour rink, USA need-ed a win to clinch an out-right berth in the playoffs.USA forced Canada tomake a hit and stay withtheir final stone in theeighth, which was convert-ed, to push the game to anextra end. McDonald’s finalstone – a raise attempt –was wide and Canada stolethe win.

In the tiebreaker againstSlovakia’s Radoslav Durisrink, the U.S. had a 5-4lead heading into the finalend without the last-rockadvantage. Slovakia drewthrough a narrow port tograb a single and tie thegame. In the extra end,Slovakia snuck through theport again and converted atakeout. That left

McDonald with a hit androll for the win but hisstone was again wide andSlovakia moved on to theplayoffs – the first ever forthe nation.

This was the first worldchampionship for Palmerand Kelly. “The thing that Ifeel so good about is theirshotmaking and execution,”Brown said. “This is a team

that is just going to contin-ue to improve because theyare so inexperienced. Theycan learn from this experi-ence. Some of the teams inthe past, I thought maybethey had levelled out andweren’t going to go for-ward. But this team here,you can see what they’velearned and how far they’vecome. The experience ofnot knowing the right shot,at the right time, occasion-ally just puts us a little bitbehind. But to be that close,with that experience level,bodes well for their future.”

Brown was assisted byRusty Schieber (Portage,Wis.) and Marc DePerno,USA Curling’s nationalwheelchair outreach anddevelopment program

director.Russia went on to defeat

Korea, 9-1, to win the goldmedal. China defeatedSlovakia, 7-4, to earn thebronze.

The 2013 WorldWheelchair Championshipwill serve as the test eventfor the 2014 ParalypmicWinter Games and will take

place Feb. 16-23, 2013, inSochi, Russia. Ten nationswill qualify for the 2014Paralympic Winter Gamesbased on points accumulat-ed at the 2011, 2012 and2013 world wheelchairchampionship. Russia, ashost, receives an automaticentry, just like for the 2014Olympic Winter Games.


USA finishes fifth at World Wheelchair event2012 World Wheelchair

Championship

Round Robin

Korea 7-2Russia 7-2China 7-2Slovakia 6-3USA 6-3Sweden 3-6Canada 3-6Scotland 3-6Norway 2-7Italy 1-8

Tiebreaker:

*USA 002 110 100 – 5Slovakia 210 001 012 – 7

Page Playoffs 1-2:

Russia 020 001 100 – 4*Korea 102 000 011 – 5

Page Playoffs 3-4:

*China 210 400 0x – 7Slovakia 001 000 1x – 2

Semifinal:

China 000 001 01 – 2*Russia 011 000 10 – 3

Bronze medal:

Slovakia 101 000 2x – 4*China 020 230 0x – 7

gold medal:

*Korea 100 000 0x – 1Russia 013 211 1x – 9*last stone in first end

USA round robin scores:

USA 7, Korea 6USA 4, Sweden 3

USA 8, Italy 3USA 8, Slovakia 2USA 6, Scotland 4

China 7, USA 3Russia 3, USA 2

USA 7, Norway 3Canada 7, USA 5

2014 Paralympic Winter games Qualification Points Standings:

Country 2011 2012 2013 Total

Russia* 7 12 19Canada 12 4 16Korea 5 10 15China 6 8 14Great Britain** 10 3 13USA 4 6 10Norway 8 2 10Sweden 3 5 8Slovakia 0 7 7Germany 2 0 2Italy 0 1 1Czech Rep. 1 0 1*Russia as host country for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games has guaranteedqualification.**Points for Great Britain are gained by Scotland at World Wheelchair CurlingChampionships.

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

A

USA’s team of Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), James

Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.) and Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) fin-

ished fifth at the 2012 World Wheelchair Championship in South Korea.

Photo by Richard Gray, World Curling Federation

Team USA shares

a light moment

before competi-

tion at the 2012

World

Wheelchair

Championship in

South Korea.

Photo by World

Curling

Federation

www.united.com/usoc – Both codes below must be used

Z code: ZMGP and Agreement Code: 716372



he WorldChampionships inBasel, Switzerland,for the men and

Lethbridge, Canada, for thewomen are approachingand a curling connoisseurreflecting on the perform-ances of men’s andwomen’s teams from differ-ent countries at previousWorlds asked me if therewere any differences inhow men and womenapproached and coped withcompetition pressure. Wetold them we would investi-gate the question and withthe aid of research literaturewe found differencesbetween the genders in theircoping response to compe-tition.

How do women and mencope with competitive pres-sure?

According to researchfindings, in general, highly-skilled female athletesapproach competition witha positive mindset andproactive behaviors likeproblem solving, feedbackseeking, solution findingusing effective communica-tion skills. Highly-skilledfemale athletes find ways toengage with the pressureand deal with the cause ofthe stress directly; andengage in more emotionaland social support copingstrategies than their malecounterparts who prefer amore rational, socially-detached treatment of com-petitive pressure. Men havebeen found to suppress theiremotions and not use socialsupport (coaches, team-mates and friends) to

inform or enhance their per-formance when they areexperiencing competitivestress, e.g. willingly use acoach for feedback purpos-es. Female athletes, on theother hand, have beenfound to use the venting asa unhelpful coping strategy.

Research shows thatcompetitive female athletesprefer a positive supportivesocial environment andtheir dominant copingresponses in competitionare emotionally focused notproblem- and solution-focused. Men, on the otherhand, are likely to be prob-lem/solution-focused andtypically neglect the socialconnection with teammatesand others.

What does this mean tocoaches, teammates andfriends of competitivecurlers?

Research suggests thatcompetitive female athletesshould engage in moreproblem-focused copingand men should engage inemotional-focused copingstrategies so that athletes

have more tools in theirtoolboxes to cope with theperceived threat that com-petitive pressure brings.Coaches should increasetheir awareness of the dif-ferences in coping capabili-ty of adolescent andteenage curlers as bothmale and female curlerswill use more unhelpfulemotional responses earlyin their competitive careers.Additionally, coachesshould be very careful inthe way that feedback isprovided to youngercurlers. Coaches shouldavoid harsh criticism, nega-tive appraisal and unhelpfulfeedback. Instead, theyshould provide specific per-formance improvement andpositive coping. This rec-ommendation has beenfound across ages, experi-ence and gender to have anegative impact on athleticperformance. But, womenhave been found to be moreinfluenced by negativeappraisal and criticism fromsomeone in their social cir-cle during competition likea coach, friend or team-mate.

Team effects

From a mental game per-spective these insights offerus some intriguing con-cepts:

1. A team that is tooemotionally focused andtoo emotionally sensitive islikely to be shaken in com-petition when presentedwith on- and off-ice prob-lems that it will not dealwith and does not have thepersonal or social qualitiesand skills to cope with.

This means that teamsshould learn how to copeon an individual, sub-unitand team level. This meanstraining their mental gameand approaching theinevitable competitivestress, not avoiding it.

2. A team that is problemand solution focused, butneglects the social cohesionrisks alienating team mem-bers that prefer a balance oftask and social focus. Atypical response in this situ-ation is a curler seekingmore social balance orwithdrawal from a situationthat does not meet theirsocial needs. A male teamcan anticipate this by ensur-ing that focus is given tothe social connectedness inthe roles, communicationand use of coaches and thelike around the team toenhance performance.

3. A team that is toomuch task or too stronglysocially oriented riskscracking under pressure,which is more likelybecause they do not have abalance of coping skills forthe pressure situations theyfind themselves in.

What now?

Teams and their coachesshould assess how theirgendered team handlespressure; and identify whattriggers negative and posi-tive individual and team

responses to competitivepressure. Next, they shoulddevelop a team improve-ment approach and developindividual and team copingcapabilities building offtheir strengths and develop-ing their weaknesses. Whatwe know is that men andwomen curling teams aredifferent in how they copewith competitive pressure.Being mindful of this willhelp team builders, coachesand teammates developtheir most effective ways ofcoping with pressure.

Readers notes

Readers should note thatthis is a general interpreta-tion of primary researchconducted on gender differ-ences in a variety of sports.Readers are invited to readmy blog atwww.learn2peak.word-press.com for a more for-mal discussion of this topic,including the tools andtechniques that help bothgenders prepare for compe-tition.

Prospective Research

Notification

In Fall 2012 I will berecruiting front-end special-ists to participate in aninvestigation about theeffectivesness of mentalskills training to improvecontrol and consistencyover critical front end per-formances in competition.

Handling pressure: Which gender will rise in 2014?

By John Coumbe-Lilley,

USA Curling sports

psychology consultant

T

The U.S. CurlingAssociation is proud torecognize the following

sponsors who support oursport and organization:The Funny Side



oise Curling Club members got more of anadventure than they expected on Feb. 11 asthey traveled to the high mountain town ofStanley, Idaho, to stage an outdoor curling

demonstration and learn to curl event during Stanley-Sawtooth Winterfest 2012. “Most of us began thethree-hour drive to Stanley after work on Friday,”said Rob Smith, Boise Curling Club member, whowas hauling a trailer full of stones and brooms. “I gotturned back an hour out of Boise because an ava-lanche had closed the road to Stanley.” Smith’s detourback to Boise and then “the long way around” toStanley through Sun Valley and over Galena Passturned into a seven-hour trip through fog and dark-ness late Friday evening. “When I finally got in toStanley the weather was clear, the outdoor ice sheetwas beautiful, and there were a million stars out.‘This is going to be spectacular, I thought.’”

The curlers awoke Saturday morning to 6 inches ofnew snow on the ice. Just as they started getting itclear with snowblowers and shovels, it began to snowso hard they couldn’t keep up with it ... and yet peo-ple were showing up to learn curling. “For the first 90minutes of the event, we had to clear snow from the

sheet after every single throw. About all we could dowas teach people how to slide,” Smith said. “Then thesnow finally stopped and we were able to get the iceinto decent shape for a game.”

In spite of all the challenges, the event was a bighit in this Idaho mountain town with a population of63 at the last census. “I lost count of the people whocame up to thank us for bringing curling up here,”Smith said.

Boise Curling Club plans to return for next year’sWinterfest event in Stanley.

Ten Boise Curling

Club members didn’t

let a blizzard or an

avalanche stop them

from introducing

curling to the small

town of Stanley,

Idaho (left) during

its Winterfest. Club

members making the

trip included (below,

l-r) John Treinen,

Russ Benson,

Thomas Tomlinson,

Craig Paprocki, Rob

Smith (kneeling), Jeff

Salmans, Scott

Fuhriman, Suz

Rittenhouse, Dave

Rittenhouse

Submitted photos

B

Snowy delivery

Americans return home with coveted trophyhe 20 curlers on the 2012USCA Scotland Tour weresuccessful in their quest toreturn the Herries Maxwell

Trophy to the United States.Dating from 1805 and similar tothe Trafalgar Vases awarded toheroes of the Battle of Trafalgar,the trophy was donated in 1951 byCommander D. Herries Maxwellfor competition between curlingtouring teams of Scotland and theUSA on a home and away basis.The Tour has been played everyfive years since 1952, with theUSA having won six times andScotland seven.

Playing in 20 venues acrossScotland from Inverness to

Dumfries and Stranraer toAberdeen, the 3 1/2 week 2012Tour included 147 competitiongames plus 10 exhibition games.The competition was decided bythe total score of all 147 competi-tion games, with the USA prevail-ing 1,075-797.

“The competition was keen andthe camaraderie, fellowship andfriendship overwhelming. Myteammates were great and everyScotland area and province put ontheir very best for us. Congratula-tions to our Scotland opponents formany hard-fought games, and con-gratulations to my teammates foremerging victorious. We areextremely proud to have brought

the trophy home with us. We arealready looking forward to the2017 USA Tour when we willdefend possession of the trophy onU.S. soil and will do our best tomatch Scottish hospitality,” saidMark Swandby, 2012 Scot Tourcaptain.

The 2012 USCA Scotland Tourmembers included Russ Armstrongand Russ Brown of the ExmoorCurling Club; Paul Badgero,Detroit Curling Club; Dan Brunt,Portage Curling Club; DavidCarlson, Poynette Curling Club;Bob Chandler, Boston CurlingClub; Doug Dedolph, MayfieldCurling Club; Bob Dixon, KettleMoraine Curling Club; Dennis

Jorgensen, Curl Mesabi CurlingClub; Herb Kupchik, BroomstonesCurling Club; Russ Lemcke, CapeCod Curling Club; Rich Leppingand Mark Swandby, MadisonCurling Club; Dick Macartney,Triangle Curling Club; Jon Mielke,Capital Curling Club; Dave Peck,Denver Curling Club; Bill Rhyme,Green Bay Curling Club; JamesPleasants, Granite Curling Club;Chris Sjue, Fargo-MoorheadCurling Club; Carl Thomas, UticaCurling Club; and Couriers HughTempleton and Robert Stewart.

To find out more about the 2012Scot Tour, visit the team’s blog athttps://sites.google.com/site/scot-tour2012/.

T

Hall ofFame

nominationssought

Nominations are now

being accepted for consid-

eration for the USA Curling

Hall of Fame. Curlers can

be nominated in three cate-

gories: curler, builder or

curler/builder based on the

candidate’s contributions to

the sport.

Nomination paperwork

can be found online at

www.usacurl.org/goodcurl-

ing. The deadline for sub-

missions is June 1, 2012.

Submit supporting informa-

tion to the USA Curling

office via e-mail to Dawn

Leurquin at dawn.leurquin

@ usacurl.org, via fax to

715-344-2279, or by mail

to 5525 Clem’s Way,

Stevens Point, WI 54482.

Selection is determined by

the USCA Athlete/Curler

Recognition Committee.

Nominate a great

volunteerThe U.S. Curling

Association is proud to rollout its Volunteer of the YearAward. Nominations will beaccepted through June 1,2012, with the inauguralwinner being announcednext summer.

The Volunteer of theYear Award honors onegreat volunteer who standsout for his/her work to helppromote the sport of curl-ing. Please help spread theword about this great awardto thank the backbone ofour organization – our vol-unteers!

Criteria and a nominationform can be found online atwww.usacurl.org/usacurl.Thank you to all our greatvolunteers. For more infor-mation, contact the USCAoffice at 1-888-CURLERS(287-5377).



s a sweeper, howdo you knowwhen to sweep?Generally speak-

ing, calls related to line areup to the skip and callsrelated to weight are up tothe sweepers. There are cer-tainly exceptions, butsweepers are in the bestposition to judge the speedof a draw shot and to knowif the stone needs sweepingto get it to the desired spoton the ice.

So, how do you know?Well, there are four primaryingredients that help sweep-ers determine if brushing isneeded. First and foremost,sweepers need to developgood judgment. They mustbe able to observe the speedof the stone and, given itslocation on the sheet andthe keenness of the ice,know if it has plenty ofweight or if it needs sweep-ing. If it’s light, don’t waitfor someone else to tell you– sweep!

A second bit of input thathelps sweepers know ifbrushing is needed is theshooter. Right out of theshooter’s hand, that personshould have some sense ofhow the rock was thrown.Was it heavy or was it lightor was it about right? Theshooter should immediatelycommunicate with thesweepers and let themknow how the rock felt.

As the rock nears the farhouse, the skip is also in aposition to judge the rock’smomentum and to provideinput to the sweepers.Actually, at that point, theskip will usually overrideeverything else and is pro-viding a directive, ratherthan merely input. Trust theskip’s judgment when he orshe calls for sweeping,

regardless of whether it isfor line or weight.

A fourth input tool thatmany sweepers use to helpdetermine weight is a stopwatch. The timing methodused is the same intervaltiming that we discussed inthe last article about using astop watch to develop mus-cle memory and therebybeing able to throw allkinds of weights precisely.

As we talked about lasttime, interval timinginvolves timing the deliveryfrom the time that the leadedge of the stone touchesthe backline, until it touch-es the near hog line. Thekey to getting accuratetimes is to have a shooterwho does not “feed” or pullback on the stone duringthe delivery. Ultimately, thegoal is to determine the rel-ative keenness of the icebased on an interval timefor a rock that comes torest, without sweeping, atthe far tee line. Typicallyinterval times on club iceare in the neighborhood of3.4 to 3.6 seconds.

We also mentioned in thelast article that 1/10th of asecond in interval timing isequal to about 6 feet in dis-tance. Therefore, on 3.5-second ice, a rock thrownwith an interval of 3.6 sec-onds would come to restjust biting the top of thehouse. Conversely, a rockthrown at 3.4 secondswould travel to the backline. If the skip calls for teeline weight and the shooterthrows a 3.7 second shot,start sweeping because youneed to take the rock anextra 12 feet.

Sweepers and the shootershould communicate whatkind of interval time theshooter is striving to throw.

If the skip calls for a shot tothe tee line on 3.5 secondice, the shooter should tellthe sweepers that theyshould look for a 3.6 sec-ond throw. Remember, a3.6 second throw wouldnaturally stop at the top ofthe house. But, the goal isto throw just on the lightside of perfect and to leaveit up to the sweepers tomake the shot perfect.Don’t “take the broom outof your sweepers’ hands”by throwing just a bit tooheavy.

Mechanically, teamsshould have their strongestsweeper sweeping next tothe stone. That sweepershould be ready to sweepimmediately, even beforethe stone gets to the nearhog line. The other sweepershould, therefore, be theperson in charge of timing.You don’t need two timers– it will only lead to confu-sion and leave you withouta sweeper for a portion ofthe trip down the ice.

The timing sweepershould immediately com-municate the resulting timeto both the other sweeperand to the shooter. Letting

the shooter know will helpthem constantly recalibratetheir muscle memory sothey can effectively knowhow hard to push out of thehack.

Sweepers also need tocommunicate weights withthe skip. Let the person inthe house know where youexpect the rock to end up.Different teams use differ-ent terminology and manyuse zone numbers. We’lltalk more about that in laterarticles, but, for now,remember to communicatewith the skip. Saying some-thing and being wrong isbetter than never sayinganything at all. Say some-thing – it’s part of your jobas a sweeper. You will getbetter with practice.

I also have to say thatafter I teach my team mem-bers how to interval time tojudge rock speed, within acouple weeks I inevitably

tell them to put the watchaway and to start usingtheir head. There is nothingmore frustrating than call-ing for a rock to the top ofthe four-foot and thenwatching it stop in the 12-foot without the sweepersever laying a broom to it.When asked why, theyinvariably say that thewatch said that the weightwas good. Remember, thestopwatch is a great tool,but it is no substitute forgood judgment. Alwaysremember to use your head!

Until next time – goodcurling!

Jon Mielke is a Level III

instructor and a Level III

coach. He is the past

chairman of the USCA’s

Training & Instruction

Committee and a member

of Bismarck’s Capital

Curling Club.

Timing to aid sweeping decisions

Jon Mielke,[email protected]

Training Tips

From JonA

Key: O–Open; X–Mixed; XD–Mixeddoubles; M–Men’s; W–Women’s;S–Senior; Wc–WheelchairC–Cashspiel; J–Junior; St–Stick

Events are listed Friday throughSunday but some may begin earlier.Check the club’s website for moreinformation.

mARCH 9–11

Centerville, WI–Funspiel OColumbus, OH XCook County, MN OGrafton, ND MGranite, WA–USWCA WGreen Bay, WI–Shamrock WPardeeville, WI–Alumni OPortage, WI–Alumni OSchenectady, NY–Gordon Em. MStevens Point, WI MWauwatosa, WI MWillmar, MN O

mARCH 13–14

Itasca, MN (Grand Rapids) SXmARCH 16–18

Centerville, WI SMCurl Mesabi, MN–Springspiel MDuluth, MN–Dunlop XGrand Forks, ND MGranite, WA JGreen Bay, WI JHeather, MN JKettle Moraine, WI MLodi, WI XNutmeg, CT–Golden Handle OSuperior, WI J

Utica, NY–Gordon MmARCH 23–25

Arlington, WI SMBlackhawk, WI MDuluth, MN–House of Hearts OGrafton, ND XItasca, MN (Grand Rapids) OMissoula, MT–Zootown OPotomac, MD–Cherry Blossom O

mARCH 29–APRIl 1

Granite, WA OGreen Bay, WI XMankato, MN XPetersham, MA–Spring Fling OStevens Point, WI XTwo Harbors, MN X

APRIl 1–6

Potomac, MD–Rotary MAPRIl 13–15

Anchorage, AK–Spring ‘Spiel OPlainfield, NJ–Bonsqueal ORochester, NY O

APRIl 20–22

Coyotes, AZ–Desert Ice OAPRIl 27–29

Broadmoor, CO–High Altitude OmAY 4–6

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX OmAY 18–20

Park City, UT–Utah Open OmAY 25–27

San Francisco, CA OJUNE 8–10

Granite, WA–Summerspiel OJUNE 16–17

Coastal Carolina–Lighthouse OJUNE 29–JUlY 1

Hollywood, CA–Blockbuster OJUlY 5–8

Pittsburgh, PA–Tropicurl OJUlY 12–15

Cape Cod, MA XGreen Bay, WI–Tailgate O

JUlY 15–18

Cape Cod, MA WJUlY 19–22

Cape Cod, MA MCapital, ND O

JUlY 23–26

Cape Cod, MA WcAUg. 3–5

Triangle, NC–Carolina Classic OGreen Bay, WI SM

AUg. 10–12

Charlotte, NC–Grits ‘n Granite OAUg. 31–SEPT. 2

Vacaville, CA–The Crush OSEPT. 7–9

Wenatchee, WA–Desert Rocks OOCT. 25–28

Madison, WI–Halloween ONOV. 30–DEC. 1

Milwaukee, WI–Kiltie W

Don’t see your event listed or it’s list-

ed incorrectly? Send bonspiel dates

and corrections to Terry Kolesar,

[email protected]. The next

deadline for submitting bonspiel

results is April 27.

Top 10 “Buffalo Wild Wings” Restaurant Ways toProlong the Televised Spectating Enjoyment oftheir Customers During the Men’s World CurlingChampionship Gold Medal Final by SurreptitiouslyMessing Up the Hammer Shot in the 10th andSending the Game into an Extra End:

10] The fire alarm goes off in mid-delivery, thusstartling the thrower enough to make him lose bal-ance and fall flat on his face.

9] A switch is thrown resulting in the sensor handleflashing “red” even though the delivered stone wasproperly released.

8] A trained squirrel, released from a hidden cage,runs onto the ice and knocks the running stone offits trajectory.

7] A secret trap door concealed in the top eight-footcircle suddenly opens up and swallows the rock justbefore it gets to the button.

6] A rinkside photographer uses a camera flash tomomentarily blind one of the sweepers and causehim to foul the stone.

5] An official clandestinely throws white sand ontothe ice just prior to delivery, resulting in a dramatic“pick” halfway down the sheet.

4] An overhead sprinkler kicks in and re-pebblesice in front of the running stone, drastically slowingit down.

3] The sweepers’ stopwatches are remotely trig-gered to register an excessively high interval time,thereby inducing them to inadvertently brush therock right through the house.

2] An attractive female spectator sitting in the frontrow is cued to suddenly start disrobing, thus dis-tracting the players from making the proper linecall and allowing the delivered stone to wreck on aguard.

1] A drugged and “brainwashed” Bob LaBonte issent running into the house in order to fall downand deliberately kick the rock out of the four-foot.

– Richard Maskel

green Bay

men’sThe Green Bay Men’s Bonspiel took

place Feb. 17-19 in Green Bay, Wis.Here are the results: 1EW—Green Bay: Brad Casper, KirtJohnson, Jeff Kuemmel, MikeKrajewski1ERU—Appleton: Tony Meuller, TimPaterson, Reed Rudie, Bob Thomas2EW—Wausau: Howie Fisher, DougStone, Mark Sorge, Jeff Stubbe2ERU—Green Bay: Jamison Miller,Dan Miller, Jerry Miller, Jake Berlinski3EW—Stevens Point: Don Guay, DougAnderson, Scott Armstrong, ChrisSchwanz3ERU—Clintonville: Mike Sasse, PeteSasse, Mark Prignitz, Pete Gretzinger4EW—Wausau: Corey Sandquist,Charlie Hanz, Steve Gullickson, JonBurnett4ERU—Waupaca: Chris Johnson,Randy Swenson, Rick Peeter, DaveSchultz

Belfast

men’sThe 53rd Men’s Little International

Bonspiel took place Feb. 16-19 inBelfast, Maine. Here are the results:1EW—Belfast: Jeff Dutch, TerryFancy, Paul Hauser, Cory Chase1ERU—Heather (New Brunswick): PhilBartlett, Brian Cummings, Vern Lister,Les Gardiner2EW—Glooscap (Nova Scotia): BillHennigar, Trevor Archibald, DaveLeonrgan, Geza Fekete2ERU—Woodstock (New Brunswick):Terry Johnston, Tom Muise, DanaKaye, Peter Lang 3EW—Nackawic (New Brunswick):Scott Fox, Jamie Pollack, Dana Fox,Weldon Pollack3ERU—Broomstones: Robby Melville,Michael Rosa, Scott Olson, JeffMarchand4EW—Thistle St. Andrews (NewBrunswick): Jeff Stewart, Kevin Baxter,Danny Armstrong, Dave Lin, DaveHansen, Greg Baker4ERU—New Pond: Doug Burchesky,Brad Glaser, Keith Dropkin, JimParsons

Rice lake

men’sThe Rice Lake Men’s 2012

Invitational took place Feb. 3-5 in RiceLake, Wis. Here are the results:1EW—Duluth: Phil DeVore, DougCameron, Dave Johnson, Mark Lusche1ERU—Duluth: Bob Magie, DanPeterson, Rick Fox, Kevin Stevens2EW—Rice Lake: Larry Sharp, Scott

Sharp, Bumper Bergstrom, Mike Wolff2ERU—St. Paul: Bob Nelson, TimLindgren, Dan Frey, Steve Meyer3EW—Madison: Ken Neidhart, AdamDerringer, Jeff Robinson, Josh Koehler3ERU—St. Paul: Jim Bronson, JimBata, Wayne Richert, Bill Haider4EW—Rice Lake: Phil Henkel, JimBerndt, Greg Leach, Terry Sirek4ERU—Columbus: Ryan Moellman,Steve Shaffer, Bryan Wilson, AdamHuffman



Wisconsin, Minnesota teams win USSMCA titles

Winners of the Master’s Division were (front, l-r) Gordy Klein,

Ray Micholajak, Earl Meyer and Ron Gervais. Runners-up

included (back, l-r) Charles Hilgendorf, Vern Herr, Barney

Lohan and Dean Teeter.

The Super Senior champions were (l-r) John Geason, Gerry

Flakas, Rob Haagensen and Herb Rasmussen.

Winners of the Senior Division were (front, l-r) Don Drost, Greg

Dahl, Bill Kind and Larry Sharp. Runners-up were (back, l-r)

Don Kind, Tony Parme, Wally Henry and Stan Vinge.

The Super Senior runner-up team included (l-r) Robert Knievel,

Vic Lemacha, Charles Smith and Jerry Foley.

he United StatesSenior Men’sCurlingAssociation held

its annual competitionFeb.16-19 at the KettleMoraine and WauwatosaCurling Clubs.

The Master’s Divisiontitle was won by the TwoHarbors, Minn., clubskipped by RonGervais. John Geason ofthe Kettle Moraine (Wis.)club captured the SuperSenior Division and LarrySharp’s rink from RiceLake, Wis., earned theSenior Division title.

Here are the full results:Senior Division:

1EW—Rice Lake: LarrySharp, Bill Kind, GregDahl, Don Drost1ERU—Madison: StanVinge, Wally Henry, TonyParme, Don Kind2EW—Curl Mesabi:Lonnie Gulbranson, JohnPearsall, Gordy Dahl, ScottLove2ERU—St. Paul: ArtRuohonen, Mark Faltesek,Dale Gibbs, John Eustice3EW—Madison: RichardBerling, Richard Maskel,Walter Erbach, Larry

Baeder3ERU—Exmoor: JeffWright, Art Helt, MikeGriem, Paul Lange4EW—Rice Lake: DaleStoik, Kraig Smith, MelPearson, Don Peterson4ERU—Portage: Bob Daly,Mike Moe, Bill Tierney,Ken Ryczek5EW—Blackhawk(Janesville): Mike Zolidis,Jim Wilhelm, HenryClement, Doug Ewing5ERU—Rice Lake: LarryAnderson, Gary Schieffer,Bob Stanonik, TomCochrane

Super Senior Division:

1EW—Kettle Moraine:John Geason, Gerry Flakas,Rob Haagensen, HerbRasmussen 1ERU—Granite (Seattle):Robert Knievel, CharlesSmith, Vic Lemacha, JerryFoley2EW—Kettle Moraine:Gary Dowd, Jim Buege, PatO’Driscoll, Jeff Seboth2ERU—Detroit: Dave Nelson, GilSchumacher, JohnDanckaert, Pete Sylvain3EW—Madison: SteveO’Connor, Dan Lynch,Tony Wendricks, Allan

Hafeman3ERU—Kettle Moraine: Jack Johnson, JerryHelding, Bob Flemming,Jim Nelson4EW—Poynette: MarkKretzmann, Jon Vaningan,Bruce Garner, Don Jackson4ERU—Wauwatosa: JackBaker, John Clark, VicHybinette, Neil Doese

masters Division:

1EW—Two Harbors: RonGervais, Earl Meyer, RayMicholajak, Gordy Klein1ERU—Poynette: DeanTeeter, Barney Lohan, VernHerr, Charles Hilgendorf2EW—Clintonville: MerritSasse, Steve Fellman, AlPrudom, Tom Felts2ERU—Bemidji: Max Hirt,Larry Oaks, Jim Howard,John Liapis3EW—Arlington: BillMonteufel, Bernie Dushek,Art Woodward, DonThurston3ERU—Chicago: PaulArnold, Dan Cahill, DonRand, Ed Roob4EW—Detroit: DallasSchneider, Don Warthman,Ken Zryd, Ron Grover4ERU—Chicago: AndyAnderson, Ed Davis, StuTray, Morgan Porter

T

Winners of the Rice Lake Men’s Bonspiel were (l-r) Phil DeVore,

Doug Cameron, Dave Johnson and Mark Lusche.

Winners of Belfast’s 53rd Men’s Little International Bonspiel

were (l-r) Paul Hauser, Cory Chase, Terry Fancy and Jeff Dutch

(skip).

Cleveland

mixedThe 52nd International Mixed

Bonspiel took place Jan. 27-29 at theCleveland Skating Club in ShakerHeights, Ohio. Here are the results: 1EW—Columbus: P.J. Kearney, SharonO’Brien, Jon Chambers, EricaChambers1ERU—Ridgetown: Doug Young,Sheila Young, Bill Humphrey, TheresaHumphrey2EW—Roseland: Phil Partington, TerriHooft, Ed Hooft, Melinda Partington2ERU—Mayfield: Else Festersen, BobBellamy, Debbie Horn, Roger Meredith3EW—Oakville: Doug Kelsey, MaryAnne Hulme, Roy Hulme, GinetteLouth3ERU—Hamilton-Victoria: KenPhillips, Sharon Lederman, LarryMarriot, Nancy Phillips4EW—Mayfield: Daniel Schmidt,Courtney Schmidt, Wayne Vespoli,Lynde Vespoli4ERU—Curling Club of Collingwood:David Erler, Deb Erler, MorleyBercovitch, Joan Bercovitch5EW—Hamilton-Victoria: John Scott,Judy Scott, Jim Neales, Christina Neales5ERU—Annandale: Jim Sliva, ShannonSliva, Dave MacDonald, HeatherMacDonald, Katy Mercer (alternate)

Schenectady

Women’sThe 2012 Empire State Bonspiel

took place Jan. 19-22 in Schenectady,N.Y. Here are the results:1EW–Oakville, Ontario: Doris Bitz,Gail Cosman, Cheryl Van Der Kroon,Chelsea Allen1ERU–Kayuta Lake: Karen Rogowski,Heather Swiercz, Julie Chanatry, LisaMagnarelli2EW–Otterburn Park: Elaine de Ryk,Nancy Wurth, Nancy Sage, LindaAustin2ERU–Utica 2: Cindy Brown, BarbaraFelice, Liz Nolan, Kathy Palazzoli,Diane Higgins3EW–UNUT: Anne Stuhlman, LenoreCollins, Phelicia Howland, EllyBockley3ERU–Rochester 2: Carol Wood,Rebecca Hahn, Andrea Greisberger,Bonney Bennett4EW–Philadelphia: Rosemary Morgan,Jo Hess, Leslie Dudt, Pat Jolly4ERU–Rochester 1: Gail Short, KathyLomnicki, Mary Fredlund, ClaudiaRaven5EW –Utica 1: Susan Williams, YlvaCortright, Kathy Davis, Jan Rishel5ERU–Albany: Wendy Berger, MeganBoyak, Emma Foster, Annie Petersen

Racine

men’sThe Racine Men’s Invitational took

place Nov. 6-8 in Racine, Wis. Here arethe results:1EW—Racine: Chris Anderson, MattWood, Stephen Baylon, Tom Feick1ERU—Milwaukee: Mark Conrardy,Steve Shallock, Fred Richter, TomChristensen,Steve Seivers2EW—Wauwatosa: Michael Vigil,Michael Elwing, Greg Touchette, DaveGross, DougDrzycimski2ERU—Alpine: Scott Wild, MikeWoods, Steve Johnson, Harlan Edelman3EW—Milwaukee: Mike Moll, ScottKania, Dick Barnes, Jim Hintz3ERU—Racine: Nate Hazen, JoshHoffman, Keith Erdman, MikeZimmerman4EW—Racine: Mike Dry, Steve Thery,Bob Miers, Bob Johnson4ERU—Racine: Jim Mataczynski, JoshDoe, Zach Schlemming

mayfield

Women’sThe Mayfield Women’s Bonspiel

took place Jan. 21, 2012, in Cleveland,Ohio. Here are the results:1EW—Team International: Ann Hull,Sherry Paling, Rosemary Birka, LindaPeterson1ERU—Columbus: Amy Lyle, KarenHamilton, Barb Baroni, Jan Kriebel2EW—Cleveland: Rebecca Storey, JuliaSullivan, Audrey Lynn, Annie Hubbard

2ERU—Brantford (Ontario): KarenMoffat, Krista Berrill, Laurie Tottle,Shannon McMannis3EW—Columbus: Jen Paine, SarahFields, Valerie Dolence, Amy Clawson3ERU—Mayfield: Debbie Horn, LeslieCook, Laurel Cox, Courtney Schmidt

marshfield

men’sThe Marshfield Men’s Bonspiel

took place Feb. 10-12 in Marshfield,Wis. Here are the results: 1EW—Marshfield: Dana Haagenson,Gary Haagenson, Andy Krahn, Preston

Hill1ERU—Marshfield: Dennis Jacobsen,Jeremy Dohr, Jake Ferch, Paul Logan,Kellen Kangas2EW—Marshfield: Steve Borgemoen,Luke Behling, Bryan Borgemoen, MikeBehling, Jeff Schliesman2ERU—Marshfield: Mike Bissonette,Jon Kalsow, Matt Ruhbusch, MitchLangreck3EW—Stevens Point: Jack Konopacky,Dusty Lochner, Jack Edgerton, KurtKlussendorf3ERU—Eau Claire: Fred Fetzer, BobScott, Clarence Topp, Brent Carpenter4EW—Marshfield: Todd Besler, Drew

Gillett, Chris Schwanz, Gary Gustafson,Craig DeGrand4ERU—Marshfield: Steve Schmidt, JimFreund, Clarence Tam, Rob Brown

Kettle moraine

Women’sThe Badger Women’s Bonspiel took

place Jan. 27-29 at the Kettle MoraineCurling Club in Hartland, Wis. Here arethe results: 1EW—Pardeeville: Margo Pufahl, LisaWendt, Carrie Cook, Laura Mitchell1ERU—Stevens Point: Bev Schroeder,Lori Kawleski, Sarah Kreager, Patti

Henning2EW—Kettle Moraine: Judy Maier,Teresa Thomas, Kathy Hyslop, AliBedborough/Jean Bosenbecker2ERU—Appleton: Nancy Davis, JeriNorris, Sue Van Rooy, Teresa Larkin3EW—Madison: Cindy Godar, AngieMontgomery, Sara Dewey, SandiiZylkowski/Dae Jahnke3ERU—Racine: Lora Christensen, LisaJohnson, Paula Kalke, Tanya Schober4EW—Waupaca: Carol Peotter, LindaEskritt, Sue Tuss, Cheri Wolverton4ERU—Racine: Barb VanderLeest,Denise Knudsen, Jody Erdman, DawnFlegel



Winners of the 2012 Racine Curling Club Mixed Invitational

Bonspiel were (l-r) James Krutilla, Sue Blizzard, Fred Blizzard

and Pauline Krutilla of the Milwaukee Curling Club.

Winners of the Wisconsin State Curling Bonspiel hosted by

Cottage Grove Lions at the Madison Curling Club in January

were Waupaca Curling Club members (l-r) Dale Matheson,

Larry Gordon, Doug Eskritt and Tom Olmsted.

Winners of the Marshfield Men’s Bonspiel were (l-r) Dana

Haagenson, Gary Haagenson, Andy Krahn and Preston Hill.

Winners of the Racine Men’s Invitational were (l-r) Chris

Anderson, Matt Wood, Stephen Baylon and Tom Feick.

Winners of the Arlington Men’s Bonspiel were (front, l-r): Dean

Teeter, Jon Vananigan, Rick Walstad and Terry Thompson.

Runners-up included (back, l-r) Stan Vinge, Rob Wixson, Sheldon

Bender and Joe Sokal.

Winners of the 52nd International Mixed Bonspiel at the

Cleveland Skating Club were (l-r) Jon Chambers, Sharon

O’Brien, Erica Chambers and P.J. Kearney.

Winners of the Schenectady Empire Bonspiel were (l-r) Doris

Bitz, Gail Cosman, Cheryl Van Der Kroon and Chelsea Allen.

Winners of the Badger Women’s Bonspiel were (l-r) Margo

Pufahl, Lisa Wendt, Carrie Cook and Laura Mitchell.



Winners of the Blackhawk Mixed Bonspiel were (l-r) Jim

Thomson, Chelsey Lamont, Matt Galas and Beth Walker.

Blackhawk

mixedThe Blackhawk Mixed Bonspiel

took place Jan. 20, 2012, in Janesville,Wis. Here are the results: 1EW—Waltham: Jim Thomson,Chelsey Lamont, Matt Galas, BethWalker1ERU—Kettle Moraine: Jerry Helding,Millie Buege, Jim Buege, Chris Helding2EW—Wauwatosa: James Krutilla,Pauline Krutilla, Jason Pickett, EricaPickett2ERU—Appleton: Joe Norris, JeriNorris, Fred Messman, WynneMessman3EW—Chicago: Paul Arnold, MarciaArnold, Wilson Gottschild, KarrieGottschild3ERU—Milwaukee: Dick Barnes,Roanne Barnes, Dave Goelzer, MaryBeth Goelzer4EW—Racine: Chris Anderson,Amanda Hyttel, Matt Wood, VirginiaAnderson4ERU—Blackhawk: Aaron Richards,Deb Richards, Randy Thompson, CathyIdzerda

Blackhawk

Women’sThe 2011 Women’s First Chance

Bonspiel took place at the BlackhawkCurling Club in Janesville, Wis. Hereare the results:1EW—Chicago: Pam Oleinik, LaurieRahn, Julie Denten, Stephanie Martin1ERU—Madison: Jenna Haag, GraceGabower, Chloe Pahl, Erin Wallace2EW—Appleton: Wynne Messman, JeriNorris, Teresa Larkin, Lisa Curtis2ERU—Blackhawk: Nancy Wilhelm,Sharon Davidson, Beth Hilt, SallyEdelman3EW—Madison: Marnee Hafeman,Boots Stolt, Carla Lynch, Dae JeanJahnke3ERU—Chicago: Susan McDonald,Cheryl Dudek, Donna Slabas, JobyBerman4EW—Wauwatosa: Melva Sabatke,Kim Rudkin, Tiffany Reilly, EvieZuroske4ERU—Green Bay: Karen Ronk,Ashley Lyman, Deborah Moulton, LisaSchroeder

Centerville

Women’sThe Women’s Sippy Spiel took

place Feb. 3-5 at the Centerville (Wis.)Curling Club. Here are the results:1EW—St. Paul: Margie Smith, DebbieDexter, Sally Augustin, Peggy Gazzola1ERU—Centerville/Wauwatosa: LoreneHarris, Kara Sacia, Cally Hein, KathyVan Vleet2EW—Rice Lake: Sara Lorenz, LynnStruzan, Kelly Flach, Stacy Schlampp2ERU—Centerville: Mary Trim, BarbGuse, Megan McCluskey, CarriePohjola3EW—Medford: Mary Nelson, JennaNelson, Debbie Nernberger, ShalonHolbeck3ERU—Rice Lake: Lola Skogstad,Marion Olund, Carlotta Romsos, BarbBeguhn4EW—Blackhawk: Stacy Sennett-Baden, Sonja Bagley, Kathy Idzerda,Jean Moats4ERU—Centerville: Lisa Kirkey-Hosler, Shellie Nelson, Norma VanVleet, Trudi Ewing

Racine

mixedThe Racine Mixed Bonspiel took

place Feb. 10-12 in Racine, Wis. Hereare the results:1EW—Milwaukee: James Krutilla, SueBlizzard, Fred Blizzard, Pauline Krutilla1ERU—Kettle Moraine: John Geason,Carey Nelson, Jeff Nelson, StellaGeason2EW—Blackhawk: Aaron Richards,Deb Richards, Phil Boutwell, DeniseKnudsen2ERU—Kettle Moraine: Jeff Moylan,Shelley Brzinski, Cary Brzinski, CyndySeitz3EW—Milwaukee: Steve Sedgwick,Alice Sedgwick, Tim Sullivan, CindyGallun3ERU—Stevens Point: Tom Okray,Paula Kalke, John “JT” Anderson,Monica Anderson

Winners of the Women’s First Chance in Janesville were (l-r)

Pam Oleinik, Laurie Rahn, Julie Denten and Stephanie Martin.

Winners of the Broomstones Baystate Bonspiel were (l-r) Maggie

McMahon, Joyce Folkins, Sandra Brown and Nancy Dinsdale. Winners of the Green Bay Men’s Bonspiel were (front, l-r) Mike

Krajewski, Jeff Kuemmel, Kirt Johnson, Brad Casper

2012 Badger State Games men’s gold medalists were (l-r)

George Goyke, Gordon Hetzel, Greg Adams and Hank Bowman.

Also pictured is Blair Slaminski.

2012 Badger State Games women’s gold medalists were (l-r)

Fran Cook, Tiffany Reilly, Rebecca Nguyen and Stacy Bast.

2012 Badger State Games junior men’s gold medalists were (l-r)

Andrew Summers, Evan Brauer, Ryan Kernosky and Jeremy

Stubbe.

2012 Badger State Games junior women’s gold medalists were

(l-r) Alanna Witter, Michaela Gunseor, Calla Buttke and Melissa

Sandquist.

4EW—Wauwatosa: Michael Elwing,Pat Heim, Rick Heim, Holly Elwing4ERU—Blackhawk: Gary Olson,Darcie Olson, Harlan Edelman, SallyEdelman

Broomstones

Women’sThe 2012 Baystate Ladies Bonspiel

took place at Broomstones in Wayland,Mass. Here are the results:1EW—Nashua I: Nancy Dinsdale,Sandra Brown, Joyce Folkins, MaggieMcMahon1ERU—The Country Club II: AnneRobertson, Lissa England, RobinJackson, Scoopy Stevens

2EW—Broomstones II: Dawn Gutro,Carolyn MacLeod, Debra Kutok,Heather Campbell2ERU—Nashua III: Wendy Tulgan,Ellen McDonnell, Beth Curran, LindaDenner3EW—The Country Club I: PamEllsworth, Lee Ladd, Jean Childs, LynLord3ERU—Cape Cod II: Gabriele Bruce,Natalie Galligan, Krista Longnecker,Amy Henderson4EW—Broomstones IV: Mary Kitses,Betsy Chalmers, Marsha Edmunds, FranDaly4ERU—Broom/Valley clubs: KarenSmith, Judith Cantlin-Ho, Paula Ellis,Gwenn Munroe

Winners of the Kettle Moraine Classic Bonspiel were Madison

Curling Club members (l-r) Steven O’Connor, Marie O’Connor,

Tom Hilt and Beth Hilt.



City of Brotherly Love opened my eyesoly buckets! Iflew to Philly towatch Nationalsand I’m certainly

glad that I did. It was adouble takeout to thecheckbook, but worth everypenny. Besides the greatcurling (that is covered inmore prominent pages ofthe U.S. Curling News), Isaw some amazing things ...truly amazing things.Three of these might beconsidered “game chang-ing.”

Media is never supposedto be “the story.” I knowthis because professionalmedia people have told me.Fortunately, I am not amedia professional. Thewebcast coverage of thecurling is certainly one ofthe top stories to come outof the PhiladelphiaNationals.

I am not patting myselfon the back. My contribu-tion to the webcast waslaughably small. The creditbelongs to Joe Calabreseand Brian Anderson of theRochester Curling Club.These technology wizards(another term might be“nerds”) put together highquality productions forevery round robin game andevery playoff game. Theyused over a dozen camerasand even had cordlessmicrophones on the teams.They had graphics andremaining rock countersand onscreen stats andlogos for sponsors. The netresult was coverage thatrivaled professionals with-out as much commercialinterruption. USA curlingfans finally have the cover-age that they deserve.Kudos to the USCA forhaving the guts to give 12thEnd Sports Network achance and a nod to thoselike Bill Morehouse thatcame before and whettedour appetites. How thiscoverage affects USA curl-ing in the future remains tobe seen, but I do have some

thoughts on the matter.Alas, I do not have thespace in this column ...maybe some other time.

Speaking of the USCAshowing some guts: Anarena in the East? That hadto be outside of their com-fort zone. Just like 12thEnd Sports Network, theEast not only justifiedUSCA’s faith, but farexceeded expectations. Thecommunity made every-body feel extremely wel-come. It was so very obvi-ous that they were thrilledto have this event. Philly issports-crazed. Forget aboutChicago, New York andBoston. Philly is nuts forsports. I never thought Iwould live long enough tosee a curling event in theUSA sell out. They sold allthe seats. Then they addedmore seats. Then they soldall of them. Then theyadded even more seats. Imean, we’re not stupid.Still, in the end, there werepeople with cash in theirhands turned away at thedoor. How cool is that? Socool that it most likelymeans the end to Nationalsbeing hosted at any but thevery largest curling clubs.Arenas are here to stay. Ifthe Midwest cannot sell athousand tickets for thefinals, look for moreNationals to be held at pop-ulation centers in arenasthat work hard at pre-eventpublicity. They also gener-ated a lot of media interest.It became an event thatcould be a “game changer.”We got a taste of this withthe Grand Forks Nationalsand the Grand ForksWorlds, but not to thisextent.

The third “game chang-er” that I noticed was thedepth of the women’s field.For years (and, to someextent, decades), we havepinned our hopes on threeor four accomplishedteams. It was exciting tosee eight teams vie for the

playoff positions and twoother rinks that were prettydang good. Internationally,our women’s teams havedone very well ... but thisnewfound depth is impor-tant to our continued suc-cess, increasing success andour future on the worldstage. Plus, it makes thingsa whole lot more interestingand a whole lot more fun.

For The good

of the game:

Instead of randomthoughts, I’ll stick with afew shorter thoughts onwhat I observed in Philly.

• Members of theNorfolk CC were in atten-dance to raise moneytoward rebuilding theirclub. Thanks to curlers onsite and curlers donatingfrom home, they raisedthousands of dollars. Someof our past Olympians havedonated memorabilia forthem to raffle off. Checkout their website and helpthem out if you can. I hopeI get one of Chris Plys’Olympic jackets.

• Dean “Duck” Gemmellshoots for the gold-medalwinning McCormick rink.His Plainfield Curling Clubmates showed up in force tocheer on their rink, but alsocheered any good shot byany team. When Duck

made anything close to agood shot, they blew onduck calls. I thought thatthis might be a little toorowdy for our gentleman’sgame, but it was great. Alittle color is what thisgame needs. The duck callsbrought some color ...mostly the color red toGemmell’s embarrassedface. They called theircheering section The DuckPond. Way cool.

Martin Sather, also fromthe gold-medal men’s team,played the national anthemon his saxophone before thestart of the Women’s PagePlayoff games. The lastcouple of measures gaveme goose bumps. That kidcan blow a mean sax.

An obscure PhiladelphiaPhillies baseball tradition isto bring goodies to thebroadcasting booth. Thecity took a shine to us, sowe got some local delica-cies ... soft pretzels, YumYum doughnuts andTastycakes. I grew to lovePhilly.

The ice for Nationalswas beyond good. It startedout a little “green” anddang swingy. After a coupleof draws it settled intoNirvana. David Staveteig isusing a light nip and thenrunning the rocks. It giveshim ice that is already pret-ty fast for the first practiceand pebble that showedvery little wear at the endof the game ... or even in anextra end. It was extremelyimpressive. I think thatDave and his crew areclimbing up the ranks andcan now compare theirresults with the best icemenin the world. That’s sayinga lot, but it’s what I saw.

I surprised myself at theend of it all. I have friendsor acquaintances on manyof the teams, so I think ofmyself as fairly neutral.Once the shooting wasover, however, I foundmyself feeling badly for

Team Patti Lank, TeamErika Brown and reallybadly for Team PeteFenson. Now that is justsilly, especially for Fensonsince they qualified for theOlympic Trials. I think itcomes from cheering sohard for them at Worlds.All of that cheering musthave made me a fan.Strange. I never saw itcoming. I still feel glad forthe winners and hope thevery best for them. I guessI’m just becoming less of acurler and more of a curlingfan as time slips by.

Shoot me an e-mail ifyou get the time. – Tuck

Tucker is a member of

the Grafton Curling Club

and makes his living farm-

ing in North Dakota. Send

questions or comments to

Tuck at [email protected].

Send complaints to his dic-

tatorial editor (terry.kole-

[email protected]).

By Ben [email protected]

Tucked in the

Back Page

Tuck (far right) hard at work calling a game during the 2012 USA Curling National

Championships in Aston, Pa., along with Leland Rich of Alaska (left) and 12th End Sports Network

producer Brian “BA” Anderson with the “ladder of death” looming in the foreground.

H

2012 national champion

Martin Sather is not only an

accomplished curler but an

accomplished saxophone play-

er as was evident when he

treated the crowd at IceWorks

to a moving rendition of the

national anthem at the start of

the women’s playoffs in Philly.

You can find out more about

his musical career at

www.martinsather.com.

USA Curling’s2012 Sweep theCountry AnnualAppeal is under-way. This pro-gram replacesthe existing annual pin program that so many ofyou have graciously donated to in the past. Pincollectors will be pleased to know that a pin is stillavailable as a thank you gift from us. Your gift istax deductible.

Check out the online donation web portal atwww.usacurl.org (look for the logo above) anddonate today to help curling continue to growacross the U.S. Thank you!

Please help curlingcontinue to grow


Documents

March 2012 U.S. Curling News