May edition of U.S. Curling News

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

DEPARTMENTS

Bonspiel Results – P16-19

College Curling – P6

Comics – P7

Curler’s Calendar –P16

Member Services – P3

Rocket Exhaust – P6

Tales from Sheet 9–P15

Tucked in the Back

Page–P19

USWCA – P4-5

Clinic with Team Howard Schenectady Curling Club

September 23–25, 2011

Register today!

www.BroomsUp.com

TERRIFIC TEENS:Five teams compete atU18 event. Page 3.CIRCUIT BREAKER:

USWCA Circuit a bigsuccess. Page 5.COLLEGE CRAZE:

Club College Curlinggrowing. Page 6.SAN DIEGO GETS A

“BAR”: New storagedevice. Page 7.WASHINGTON WAY:

Another mixed title forSeattle. Page 9.HP UPDATE: Learnmore about the HP planlocally. Page 13.BALANCING ACT:

Improve your techniquewith Jon’s tips. Page 14.

INSIDE:

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

May 2011 • Volume 66 Number 5 Established 1945 • www.usacurl.org • $2.50

With 141 of 166 clubsreporting membership ros-ters so far, USA Curlingreports close to a 15 percentincrease in total member-ship.

The excitement of the2010 Olympic WinterGames coupled with TVexposure on NBC has creat-ed a significant jump inmembership across theU.S., according to figurestabulated by SandyRobinson, USA Curling’scontroller and numbersmaven.

Total membership as ofMay 9, 2011, stood at16,400, compared to 14,275last year. Fifteen new clubsbecame members in thepast year – a 9 percentincrease – with the GrandNational region accountingfor eight new clubs. Of the141 clubs reporting, 73 per-cent showed an increase inmembership.

Since 2001-02, USACurling’s membership hasgrown 49 percent.

2012 Scotland Tour team named

ince 1952, the USCA and theRCCC (Scotland’s RoyalCaledonian Curling Club)have invited one another to

send teams of 20 men to tour theother nation, alternating directionevery five years. The Tour is a three-week curling competition, duringwhich over 145 games are contestedin over 20 curling centers. Rather thangames won or lost, the score is basedon total points, which makes everyend count. Tour winners earn the rightto keep the Herries-Maxwell Trophy

until the next Tour.The Tour is also a celebration of

the traditions of curling, with theSpirit of Curling very much in prac-tice on and off the ice. Singing, story-telling, ceremonies, banqueting and ingeneral, great Scottish hospitality willcomplement the two-games-per-dayof curling. The visiting team com-petes against host-country teamsassembled from each geographic area.

The Herries-Maxwell Trophy isone of a number of “Trafalgar Vases,”silver bowls made circa 1803, origi-nally used to award Brits for serviceto their Empire, such as being part ofthe victory over Napoleon at Waterloo

in 1815. Eventually, CommanderDesmond Herries-Maxwell, RoyalNavy, became president of the RCCC,led the effort to establish the Tour,and donated the eponymous trophy,which had come into possession ofhis family.

The first six Tours were won by theScots (1952-1977), but the upstartYanks won the next five (1982-2001),so the H-M trophy lived in the USAfor nearly 20 years. The Scots touredthe United States in 2007 and brought

S

by David Garber,

Historian, 2001 Scotland Tour Team

SilverSensations

Please see SCOT TOUR on Page 2.

USA’s team of (l-r) Geoff Goodland, Tim Solin, Pete Westberg, Ken Olson and Phil DeVore

earned the silver medal at the 2011 World Senior Championships, which took place April 16-

23 at the St. Paul Curling Club in conjunction with the 2011 World Mixed Doubles

Championship. USA’s Margie Smith senior team finished fourth while the doubles duo of

Brady Clark and Cristin Clark made the USA’s first-ever playoff appearance at the World

Mixed Doubles event, finishing seventh. See full story on Page 12.

Photo by Leslie Ingram-Brown

2011 national champion skipsPatti Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.) andPete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.)have been named USA Curling’s2011 Athletes of the Year. Inaddition, the 2011 world seniorsilver medalists, the GeoffGoodland team, has earned topteam honors for 2011 as deter-mined by the Athlete/Curler

Recognition Committee.This is the third time Fenson

has been named top athlete andsecond time for Lank. For theGoodland team – GeoffGoodland, Tim Solin, PeteWestberg, Ken Olson and PhilDeVore – it is the first selectionfor all team members.

See full story on Page 5.

Athletes, Team of the Year awards

announced for 2010-11 season

Rostersindicate

15 percentgrowth

VOLUME 66, No. 5 MAY 2011

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 MAY 2011 USA Curling... Dare to curl

Official publication of theUnited States Curling Association

Editor — Terry KolesarAssociate Editor—Rick Patzke

Contributing Editor—David GarberDesign: Terry Kolesar

Next editorial deadline: Sept. 23, 2011

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 US 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 Jack BernauerSecretary Bob Pelletier

Directors

Paul Badgero [2012]Kent Beadle [2012]Jack Bernauer* [2011]Craig Brown (AAC) [2011]Dave Carlson [2013]Maureen Clark (AAC) [2011]Lynita Delaney [2012]Janet Farr (USWCA) [2012]Dean Gemmell (AAC) [2011]Nancy Haggenmiller [2013]Peggy Hatch** [2011]Jonathan Havercroft [2013]Cyndee Johnson [2011]Nicole Joraanstad (AAC) [2011]Gwen Krailo [2013]

Jerome Larson [2012]Jan Legacie [2011]Gordon Maclean [2013]Richard Maskel (AAC) [2011]Bob Pelletier [2012]James Pleasants [2013]Leland Rich [2011]Sean Silver [2012]Chris Sjue [2013]Mark Swandby [2011]Ann Swisshelm (AAC) [2011]Beau Welling* [2011]Sam Williams [2011]* Board-elected

** Voice, no vote

Off-site staff:

Coaching Development Director

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 MEMBER SERVICES:

Bev Schroeder, [email protected] OF COMMUNICATIONS:

Terry Kolesar, [email protected]:

Sandy Robinson, [email protected] SERVICES COORDINATOR:

Dawn Leurquin, [email protected] ASSISTANT:

Christy Hering, [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

UNITED STATES WOMEN’S CURLING ASSOCIATION

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT Nancy SeitzFIRST VICE PRESIDENT Maureen GuaySECOND VICE PRESIDENT Bridget MatzkeSECRETARY Mary Ann HulmeTREASURER Carolyn MacLeodUSCA LIAISON Janet FarrPROMOTIONS & Nancy WilhelmPUBLIC RELATIONS

the trophy back home.Andy Anderson, captain

of the victorious 2001Scotland Tour Team, notesthat the 2001 Tour wasmoved from the traditionalJanuary-February time slotto the previous October-November, because in 2002the USA was hosting boththe Olympic Winter Gamesin February and the WorldCurling Championships inApril. In 2012, the Tourreturns to its traditionalschedule, with the curlersdeparting Jan. 26 andreturning Feb. 20.

The team consists of 20men selected from a pool ofapplicants based on severalcriteria, including service tocurling at local, regionaland national levels, ambas-sadorial skills, curling skilland good health. Teammembers pay all their ownexpenses. The selectioncommittee, in addition toAnderson, included 2001Team members DavidRussell (vice captain), SamWilliams, Mike Griem andGeorge Austin (the lattertwo also served as couriersfor the Scots when theytoured the USA in 2007).

“We had a difficult timeselecting the 20 men from arecord number of appli-cants,” Anderson said, “asthere were so many withgreat credentials that madethem candidates for theteam. We know there arethose who are disappointedin not being selected butthey were among a group ofmany good men.”

Mark Swandby ofMadison, Wis., has beenselected as captain of the2012 Tour team. Swandbyhas served as USCA presi-dent, Olympic Team leader,and has won two medals atWorld Senior Champion-ships. “It’s quite an honorto be selected and namedcaptain. The officers are

already meeting and plan-ning. We will be setting upfive teams, and finalizingthe many logistical mattersassociated with the Tour.Most of all, we look for-ward to competing andsocializing with the Scots.”

Anderson is optimistic,“We are confident the 2012team will be excellentambassadors and will returnthe Herries-Maxwell trophyto the USA.”

Other team officers (withclub affiliation) are BobChandler, Broomstones,Mass., vice captain; DaveCarlson, Poynette, Wis.,secretary; and Russ Brown,Exmoor, Ill., treasurer.Filling out the team roster

are, in alphabetical order,are Russ Armstrong,Exmoor, Ill.; Paul Badgero,Detroit, Mich.; Dan Brunt,Portage, Wis.; DougDedolph, Mayfield, Ohio;Bob Dixon, Kettle Moraine,Wis.; Dennis Jorgensen,Curl Mesabi, Minn.; HerbKupchik, Broomstones,Mass.; Russ Lemcke, CapeCod, Mass.; Rich Lepping,Madison, Wis.; DickMcCartney, Triangle, N.C.;Jon Mielke, Bismarck,N.D.; Dave Peck, Denver,Colo.; James Pleasants,Seattle Granite, Wash.; BillRhyme, Green Bay, Wis.;Chris Sjue, Fargo, N.D.;and Carl Thomas, Utica,N.Y.

SCOT TOURContinued From Page 1

The U.S. Curling Association isproud to recognize the followingsponsors who support our sport

and organization:

Perhaps more famous for their argyle fashion flare than their Olympic silver medal

win at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the Norwegian men’s curling

team visited the San Francisco Bay Area April 28-May 1 for the annual Norway Day

Festival. While in the area, the team visited the Oakland Ice Center for a community

event and exhibition game. They also made a special visit to Oakland Technical High

School. A learn-to-curl and exhibition game on SFBACC’s home ice at Oakland Ice

Center took place on April 29. The night started off with three games in which rotat-

ing teams as large as a dozen local club members got to curl with or against the

Olympians. Team USA was captained by 2010 Paralympian Patrick McDonald and

Team Norway was filled out by local curler Loreen Makishima.

Submitted photo

Your contact: Bev Schroeder, [email protected]; 1-888-287-5377, Ext. 203

MAY 2011 3USA Curling... Dare to curl


Bantam curling: Good for curling, good for kids

Certifications

early every organizedyouth sport played in theUnited States today isstructured by either age

or grade. You would generally not see a

high school soccer team competewith a sixth-grade team. The rea-sons are obvious, since under nor-mal circumstances it wouldn’t bemuch fun for the sixth graders.

In order to build any successfulyouth sport program, fun has to bethe first and foremost objective. Ifthe participants are having fun andenjoying some level of success(which isn’t necessarily defined aswinning), they may continue toparticipate and grow in the sport.Yet, in Junior Curling, 12-year-oldsare expected to compete with 20-

year-olds. If USA Curling is togrow the sport at the junior level,we might need to rethink how ourjuniors compete. Some states dohold high school championships,but the younger ages, 13 and under,are largely left to curl up in termsof age. This age group is key togrowth in our junior program and,ultimately, competitive curling atthe highest levels.

Eight years ago, North Dakotaimplemented a Bantam Program.The North Dakota Bantam Programconsists of two age levels, 13 andunder (U-14) and 17 and under (U-18). Both age groups are as ofDec. 31 of the current curling sea-son.

The 13-and-under group playssix-end games in an open format,while the older group has a sepa-rate boys and girls format thatplays eight ends. The goals of the

Bantam Program are to:(1) Encourage younger kids to

try competitive curling where theywould be hesitant to play at thejunior level.

(2) Give these kids a chance towin at a younger age and, hopeful-ly, to carry an optimistic curlingspirit into the junior level.

(3) Ensure a pipeline of experi-enced young curlers feeding thejunior age group.

Since its implementation eightyears ago, North Dakota has heldbantam bonspiels throughout thecurling season, culminated by aState Bantam Championship. Italso continues to host a State HighSchool Championship. Thisincreased opportunity to competehas yielded a vibrant youth pro-gram that serves the 13-17 year agegroup very well and also feeds thejunior program.

All the reasons we want our kidsin sports – teamwork, leadership,respect, fitness, friendships,delayed gratification – are bundledup in the great sport of curling,which is incomparable in its abilityto teach life skills and core valuesand provide a healthy means ofinvolvement for youth.

A bantam program in your stateor region could be that springboardfrom which a young curler is ableto bridge the gap between LittleRocks and juniors, and help sustaintheir ability to successfully com-pete in curling throughout theirlives. It’s good for our kids, andgood for curling.

If your club, state or region isinterested in implementing aBantam program, and would likemore information or assistance, feelfree to e-mail me at [email protected].

by Dave Jensen, Chairman,

USA Curling Youth Committee

N

U.S. teams compete at U18 Championship

The Optimist International Under-18Championship took place in Weston,Ontario, March 30-April 3 at the St.George’s Golf & Country Club inEtobicoke and Weston Golf & CountryClub. Five U.S. teams, selected through anapplication process, competed. Here arethe results:

Girls teams

Team Connecticut (ElizabethBrundage, Jenna Burchesky, JulieGreenebaum, Lily Wadsworth), 0-5

Team Pennsylvania (Sarah Anderson,Taylor Anderson, Abby Suslavich,Christine McMakin), 2-3

Team Washington (CoriannaTomlinson, Carolyn Garzina-Ulus, EmilyBissonnette, Stephanie Potter), 1-4

Boys teams

Team Washington (Jake Vukich, EvanMcAuley, Nick Connolly, Luc Violette), 2-3

Team Massachusetts (Justin Hoge,Andrew Glaser, David Wadsworth, ConnorHoge, Sean Burchesky), 2-3

Five U.S. teams recently participated in the U18 Championship in Ontario.

Submitted photo

In response to requests from our mem-bers for information related to their USACurling status and issues such as playdowneligibility and Curling News subscriptions,we have developed a full membershipreport that is now posted on our website.The report is based on the current season’sclub rosters received to date and will beupdated periodically. Visitwww.usacurl.org/usacurl to view the file.

The information contained in the reportis limited to members’ first and last namesas well as their corresponding membership

status. For ease in navigation, the report issorted first by region, then by club.

If you have any questions about yourlisting, the best place to start is with yourclub. USA Curling’s list is compiled fromthe information we receive from clubs. If,afterwards, you have additional questions,please contact Christy Hering, administra-tive assistant, [email protected] Dawn Leurquin, Event Services coordi-nator, [email protected] at theUSA Curling Office, or by calling 888-287-5377. Thank you!

Full member roster list now available on USA Curling website

www.united.com/usoc – Use promo code: 903AW

Level I Instructor

Jesus M. BarajasKim BelfGerritt BlauvittRhonda BrandtMichael J. DesmaraisSusan DunlapMichael P. DunnamKate GarfinkelLinda GoetschG. Thomas HaymanGordon HetzelAdam JacobsonRonald W. JodatLisa JohnsonSharon JorskiRobert KrauseJanet KriebelJeff MarchandC.T. MarhulaStephen MartinJon MelanderJoanne MollSteve ParkeMatthew ProehlRobert ReinSusan RyanPeter SecorSteven G. ShallockEd SheffieldKenny ThomsonLarry UnterbergerAlexander VisnichNicholas VisnichHowie Zwiefel

Level II Instructor

William P. AndersonMichael P. DunnamJon FisknessRobert J. LeonardJason SethiEd SheffieldKenny Thomson

Jenifer ViethLevel I Official

Kevin BehrensLauren BondDarin BrooksRichard CampbellSteven ColabufoSimon CookRandy CzarnetzkiSusan V. DunlapChris GaumerJanice HawrelakDavid HirxAnn HulmeRoy HulmeJohn IuranichDave JezowskiBrenda MasonTracie MooreGlen NovakYvonne NovakSteven J. ShafferStephanya ShearPete WatersRobert WilliamsRick WordenPatricia D. Wright

Level II Official

Richard CampbellRandy CzarnetzkiSusan DunlapLaura KingGlenn D. Melchert

Level III Official

Mike KirkebyJoe V. RobertsMary Pat Shandor

Level I Coach

Ed SheffieldKenny Thomson

Level III Coach

Sandra McMakin



USWCA strives to serve the spirit of curlings president ofUSWCA thisyear, I have triedto share a sense

of who we are and what westand for. The programs ofthe United States Women’sCurling Association are thepublic expression of ourmission and spreading wordof our services is an impor-tant link to members andthe curling community atlarge.

But, as a national organi-zation, the story is biggerthan just the events that webring to curling. Sharingthoughts about our accom-plishments and challenges,as well as our traditions andinitiatives for the futuregives a more complete pic-ture of what drives us toserve curling in the way we

do. But a single voice isinsufficient to do justice tothe understanding of thisgroup.

Fill a room withUSWCA women and youwill hear the voices ofremarkable diversity ofbackground, experience,talents and opinion. Theone shared priority is anunequivocal dedication todoing what’s best for curl-ing. No one person holdsthe key to keeping ourgroup strong and our mem-bership engaged. That suc-cess lies in the ongoingwork of individual mem-bers who believe curlingneeds grassroots support togrow the sport and a nation-al organization that linksclubs together and strength-ens competition and friend-

ships across the country andbeyond.

As individuals and as agroup, we strive to servethe spirit of curling whether

for youth curlers, newcurlers, or club curlers ofall skill levels. We welcomemen as members and partic-ipants in our work, but, trueto where we began,USWCA remains rooted toa mission that celebrateswomen’s curling. For gen-erations of women curlers,USWCA has demonstratedthat teams of women on theice can provide uniquecompetition, leadership andteamwork opportunities. Allthat in addition to somereally fine curling.

Skills honed on the iceserve our organization wellas we look to the future.The nurture of new leader-ship, mentoring of youngtalent and cultivation of anactive membership is key toour future success. Past

presidents who remainengaged, committee chairswho encourage the contri-butions of a next genera-tion, and representativeswho are active advocatesfor their own clubs and forUSWCA are just some ofthe keys to an atmospherethat welcomes new ideasand embraces thoughtfulchange.

Representing the organi-zation for the past year hasbeen a privilege and apleasure. I look forward togreeting old friends andnew faces as we again takeup the business of the groupas we reconvene inMinneapolis in September.I welcome Maureen Guayas she raises her voice asthe next spokesperson andpresident for the USWCA.

ive-year and underevents havebecome so popularthat the USWCAnow sponsors an

Open Five-Year and UnderBonspiel along with theFive-Year and UnderWomen’s Challenge. This isa terrific opportunity fornewer curlers to experiencea bonspiel along with othercurlers with similar skilllevels. A beautiful travelingplaque is provided by theUSWCA for the winningrink in each bonspiel, andspecial pins are presented towinners and runners-up inall four events. Arena clubsare hosting their five-yearand under bonspiels duringthe summer.

All curlers with five orfewer years of experienceare eligible to participate.Membership in theUSWCA is not necessary,but in order to host one ofthe events the host clubmust be a member. TheWomen’s Challenge ismade up of women’s teamsbut the new open event mayinclude teams made up ofany gender combination.Composite teams areacceptable.

On Feb. 18-20, 2011, theWauwatosa Curling Clubproudly hosted theUSWCA sponsoredWisconsin area’s 17thannual Five-Year andUnder Bonspiel with arecord 24 teams competing.

The winners of the firstevent were Milwaukee’sAlex Dye, Kevin Moran,Curt Crimmons and TomChristinson. The runners-up, from Madison, wereCharlie Thompson, MarkMehler, Rebecca Reinhartand Erik Nielsen.

Green Bay’s TristenZimmerman, RonGreening, Dustin Schwobeand Ted Treska captured thesecond event. The runners-up, from Milwaukee, wereGabe Ziskin, JustinSchmidt, Brian Narlock andAli McDonald.

The winners of the thirdevent were fromBlackhawk and Rochesterand included Ryan Accetta,Cal Merath, Todd Bequetteand Mike Sweats. The run-ners-up were Madison’sTony Roth, David Cobb,Cynthia Rhyner andHannah Gaines.

The winners of the fourthevent were Wauwatosa’sTim Mehring, Mark Clegg,Mike Bathke and SteveMilek. Chicago’s team ofMichele Rittgers, CherylDudeck Denise Erazmus,and Jessica Thomson tookrunner-up honors.

A successful event washeld for the Central Regionat the Columbus CurlingClub. The games were trulycompetitive with the first-,second- and fourth-eventsdecided by an extra end.

Here are the results:First-event winners:

Team E. Chambers,Columbus; runner-up:Groenigher rink, Columbus

Second event winners;Hartraft rink, Columbus;runner-up: Hanke rink,Detroit

Third event: Moellmanteam, Columbus; runner-up:Carcione rink, Mayfield

Fourth event: Casserrink, Potomac; runner-up:Team Khusid, ClevelandSkate Club

For more informationand guidelines about these

unique events, visitwww.uswca.org or contactKaren Ronk, chairman ofthe Five-Year and UnderCommittee, at [email protected].

Any club interested inhosting one of these eventsnext season, or in thefuture, should let theirUSWCA representativeknow or contact Karendirectly.

By Nancy Seitz,

USWCA President

[email protected]

A

Five-year and under events provideequal skill competition

Winners of the Central Region’s USWCA-sponsored Five-Year

and Under Bonspiel were (above, l-r) Erica Chambers, Jennifer

Mason, Abby Podradt and Jennifer Firm. Winners of the

Wisconsin Region’s USWCA-sponsored Five-Year and Under

Bonspiel were (below, l-r) Alex Dye, Kevin Moran, Curt

Crimmons and Tom Christinson.

by Karen Ronk, USWCA

5-Year & Under Chair

F

USWCAexpands

All-Americanseason

The All-American hasbeen sponsored by theUSWCA since 1966. Thisevent is an inner-club bon-spiel held during the curl-ing season by memberclubs throughout the UnitedStates. The USWCA pro-vides All-American pins toeach member club for theirevent.

The All-American isdesigned to encourage theinvolvement of women –especially new and less-experienced womencurlers – so they may havea bonspiel experience with-in their own clubs as wellas to foster a greater aware-ness of women’s curlingand the role of the USWCA.

All-American eventshave been held throughoutall the regions of theUSWCA - and with theaddition of so many newarena clubs, the season forthese bonspiels has beenexpanded to include thesummer months. Arenaclubs have more ice oppor-tunity during a traditionalclub’s off-season, so lookfor the results of the 2010-2011 All-American this fallin the Curling News.

If you have any ques-tions or are interested inlearning more about hold-ing an All-American eventat your club, contact GloriaMartino at [email protected].

by Gloria Martino,

All-American Chair



011 national cham-pions Patti Lank(Lewiston, N.Y.)and Pete Fenson

(Bemidji, Minn.) have beennamed USA Curling’s 2011Athletes of the Year. Inaddition, the 2011 worldsenior silver medal-winningGeoff Goodland rink hasbeen named 2011 Team ofthe Year.

This is the second timeLank has been namedFemale Athlete of the Year.She previously won in 1999and has been a member ofthe Team of the Year twice(2004 and 1999). Lank cap-tured her fifth U.S. nationaltitle and first since 2004when she won the 2011National Championships inFebruary in Fargo, N.D.Lank and her team ofCaitlin Maroldo (Rochester,N.Y.), Jessica Schultz(Richfield, Minn.),Mackenzie Lank (Lewiston,N.Y.) and alternate DebbieMcCormick (Rio, Wis.) fin-ished seventh at the 2011Capital One WorldChampionships in March inDenmark.

Lank received the newsthat she was Female Athleteof the Year on Mother’sDay. The mother of two andstay-at-home mom said itwas like receiving an extrapresent.

“I was very excited,”Lank said of hearing thenews. “It’s an honor toreceive the award after somany years, but I could nothave done it without mygreat teammates and ofcourse, Coach Harry [Neil

Harrison].”This was the third time

Fenson has earned MaleAthlete of the Year honors.He previously won in 2005and 2003 and was a mem-ber of the 2006 team thatearned top honors.

“I was a little surprised,but quite honored, to beawarded the 2010-2011 ath-lete of the year,” Fensonsaid. “I am extremely fortu-nate to play on a team withgreat players, teammates,and friends. Curling is andalways will be a teamgame. An award such asthis is made possible by astrong group of people whowork together to achievecommon goals.”

Fenson, who skipped thefirst and only U.S. team toan Olympic medal in 2006,finished 10th at the 2011Ford World Men’sChampionship in April inRegina, Saskatchewan, with

teammates Shawn Rojeski(Chisholm, Minn.), JoePolo (Duluth, Minn.), RyanBrunt (Bemidji, Minn.) andScott Baird (Bemidji,Minn.).

Fenson captured his sev-enth U.S. national title backin February after making itthrough the week undefeat-ed in the field of 10. Thiswas his fifth title as skip,putting him at the top of therecord books with the mostU.S. men’s national titles inthat position.

Fenson is now the onlymale athlete to win theAthlete of the Year awardthree times. The women’srecord-holder is LisaSchoeneberg, who has beenFemale Athlete of the Yearfour times.

The Team of the Yearhonors goes to a seniormen’s team for the secondyear in a row. Goodland(Eau Claire, Wis.) and

teammates Tim Solin(Mahtomedi, Minn.), PeteWestberg (Naperville, Ill.),Ken Olson (Plymouth,Minn.) and Phil DeVore(Superior, Wis.) haveearned the honors afterreceiving the silver medalat the 2011 World SeniorChampionships in April inSt. Paul. This is the firsttime any of the team mem-bers have earned the Teamof the Year Award.

“The team of the yearaward is the whipped creamand a cherry on top of a

near perfect season,” saidGoodland, who won hissecond U.S. senior nation-als title this year. “Late lastseason, our team committedto making significantimprovements to our game.We hired a coach, trainedharder, and scheduledtougher ’spiels thinking itwould pay off at the end ofthis season. It did pay off.I’m so proud of the guysand their efforts to go thatextra mile. We are veryhonored to be selected forthis award.”

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

2

Lank, Fenson named top athletes for 2011;Goodland rink earns top team honors

Male Athlete of the Year Female Athlete of the Year

2011 Pete Fenson Patti Lank2010 Joe Polo Alexandra Carlson2009 John Shuster Natalie Nicholson2008 Augusto Perez Allison Pottinger2007 Todd Birr Nicole Joraanstad2006 Shawn Rojeski Debbie McCormick2005 Pete Fenson Cassie Johnson2004 Joel Larway Erika Brown2003 Pete Fenson Debbie McCormick2002 Paul Pustovar Kari Erickson2001 Jason Larway Ann Swisshelm2000 Craig Brown Amy Wright1999 Myles Brundidge Patti Lank1998 Paul Pustovar Stacey Liapis1997 Kevin Kakela Joni Cotten1996 Travis Way Lisa Schoeneberg1995 Tim Somerville Lisa Schoeneberg1994 Mike Peplinski Erika Brown1993 Scott Baird Kari (Liapis) Erickson1992 Doug Jones Lisa Schoeneberg1991 Eric Fenson Lori Mountford1990 Doug Jones Bev Behnke1989 Kurt Marquardt Tracy Zeman1988 Bob Nichols Erika Brown1987 Bud Somerville Lisa Schoeneberg

Team of the Year Award

2011 The Geoff Goodland rink of Eau Claire, Wis. (Geoff Goodland, Tim Solin, Pete Westberg, Ken Olson, Phil DeVore)

2010 The Paul Pustovar rink of Hibbing, Minn. (Paul Pustovar, Brian Simonson, Tom Harms, Don Mohawk, Dale Gibbs)

2009 The Brady Clark rink of Seattle, Wash. (Brady Clark,Cristin Clark, Philip Tilker, Bev Walter)

2008 The Chris Plys rink of Duluth, Minn. (Chris Plys, Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, Matt Hamilton, Daniel Plys)

2007 The Todd Birr rink of Mankato, Minn. (Todd Birr, Bill Todhunter, Greg Johnson, Kevin Birr)

2006 The Pete Fenson rink of Bemidji, Minn. (Pete Fenson, Shawn Rojeski, Joe Polo, John Shuster, Scott Baird)

2005 The Cassie Johnson rink of Bemidji, Minn. (Cassie Johnson, Jamie Johnson, Jessica Schultz, Maureen Brunt)

2004 The Patti Lank rink of Wisconsin (Patti Lank, Erika Brown, Nicole Joraanstad, Natalie Nicholson)

2003 The Debbie McCormick rink of Illinois (Debbie McCormick, Allison Pottinger, Ann Swisshelm, Tracy Sachtjen)

2002 The Cassie Johnson rink of Bemidji, Minn. (Cassie Johnson, Jamie Johnson, Katie Beck, Maureen Brunt)

2001 The Andy Roza rink of Ak-Sar-Ben (Omaha), Neb.,(Andy Roza, Steve Jaixen, Chris Becher, Scott Jordan)

2000 The Laura Delaney rink of Wisconsin (Laura Delaney, Nicole Joraanstad, Kirsten Finch, Rebecca Dobie)

1999 The Patti Lank rink of Wisconsin (Patti Lank, Erika Brown, Allison Darragh, Tracy Sachtjen)

1998 The Andy Roza rink of Ak-Sar-Ben (Omaha), Neb.,(Andy Roza, Steve Jaixen, Kevin Jordan, Chris Becher, Scott Jordan)

1997 The Risa O’Connell rink of Bemidji, Minn. (Risa O’Connell, Amy Becher, Natalie Simenson, Missi O’Connell)

ifty USWCA women fromacross the country partici-pated in the Inaugural sea-son of the Women's

Circuit, garnering points in partici-pating women's bonspiels for cashawards.

The National Winner was ShellyPillon of the Exmoor Curling Clubin Illinois. Shelly earned a total of1,250 points in her top three eventsand will receive a check for $850.She edged out Tracy Lawless, alsofrom Exmoor and Emilia Juocysof the Chicago Curling Club in thecombined Central/West region.

Michele Heinze of KettleMoraine captured first prize inWisconsin with 935 points andearned $750. In second and thirdposition were Heather Van Sistineand Carol Stevenson, also fromKettle Moraine.

The East Region had a tie forfirst between teammates KaitlynBeebee of Schenectady and KaylaMartin of Utica (900 pts) and willsplit the combined first and second

place prize total of $1,450.Jennifer Stannard of the NutmegCurling Club rounded out the topthree in the East region.

The prize money will presentedshortly. Look for those details innext season's first Curling News

edition - or check the USWCAwebsite at www.USWCA.org.

Participating bonspiels reportedincreased numbers of rinks for theirevents and the number of women

curlerstravel-ing to bonspiels was up this year,making the Circuit a success for allinvolved.

Sponsor Broom’s Up Curlingprovided a trophy to the nationalwinner in addition to their financialcontribution. USWCA memberclubs are reminded to contact theUSWCA and get their participationinformation in early for next sea-son's publicity as we anticipate anincrease in the number of curlersand eligible bonspiels!

Visit www.USWCA.org foradditional information and com-plete details of the year's competi-tion.

Women’s Circuit a hit in first yearby Jennifer Stannard, member,

USWCA Circuit Committee

FNearly $5,000 paid to the top threeCircuit participants in each region

College Curling



College Club Curling looks forward to second seasonollege ClubCurling started thisseason with fiveschools participat-

ing in one or both of theevents we held inWisconsin and UpperMichigan. This was a“proof of concept” seasonand we are now looking toexpand the format intoother parts of the country.This program is not intend-ed to replace the currentCollege NationalChampionship, rather tobuild a regular season to thechampionship.

College Club Curling hastwo primary goals: promot-

ing the development ofcurling clubs in acollege/university environ-ment, and encouragingthese clubs to meet and

compete against each otheron a regular basis. Longterm, we would like to seecurling transition to a varsi-ty-level sport at schoolswhere it is appropriate to doso.

The only requirementthat College Club Curlinghas of its participants is thatthey belong to a curlingclub that is formally recog-nized by their college oruniversity. In general, thatmeans that they have a fac-ulty advisor and haveapplied to and been accept-ed by the governing body attheir school that covers on-campus student clubs.

Under the club curlingformat, each school is per-mitted to bring as manyparticipants as they wish,and freely substitute playersbetween games. The teamon the ice represents theschool and is referred to bythe school name and not theskip’s name.

Looking forward, wehave had contact withschools in North Dakota,Minnesota, lowerMichigan, Ohio, andOklahoma who are interest-ed in becoming part ofCollege Club Curling. Wehope to set up conferencesof schools that are geo-

graphically close to eachother and help set up aschedule of bonspiels forthese schools to compete in.

We are looking for moreschools in other regions ofthe country. If you areaware of college/universitystudents who are interestedin forming an on-campuscurling club, or have anexisting club, and might beinterested in participating inCollege Club Curling nextseason, feel free to contactme at [email protected] orvia our Facebook Page “USUniversity Club and VarsityCurling.”

by Gordon Maclean,

Chairman, College

Curling Committee

C

Top 10 Highlights From the Shooting Script of the New Hollywood Blockbuster

Motion Picture MacCurlber:

10] [FADE IN on the ends of two electric wires as aspark jumps between them causing a sensor handle totrigger. CUT among various shots of skips yelling,brushes vigorously sweeping, and stones flying out ofthe house after an upweight takeout.]

9] V.O. Singers (set to the MacCurlber theme music):MacCurlber! Making game saving circus shots out ofhopeless fiascos! MacCurlber! Throwing in and outturns in tricky situations! MacCurlber! The guy's askipping genius! MACCURLBER-RRR!!!!!

8] [CUT to an aerial view of a large arena. SUPER-IMPOSE caption, "World Curling ChampionshipVenue." CUT to a sign marked "Control Room: SheetB" as sirens wail.]

7] VICKI: MacCurlber, this 10th end is about to blowup in our faces and to make matters worse, from thelooks of that official time clock, our team has only 20seconds left to finish this game.

6] MACCURLBER: Not to worry, Vicki. Quick, handme that packet of World Curling Federation-sponsoredchewing gum.

5] VICKI: You got it, MacCurlber! TEN seconds! Buthey, didn’t the WCF withdraw its sponsorship of thatgum after critics pointed out that it promotedunhealthy eating habits in children?

4] MACCURLBER: Never mind about that. I’mgoing to use the gum to rewire this sensor handle sothat our opponent appears to be over the hog line, thuswinning the game for us.

3] VICKI: FIVE seconds, MacCurlber. But won’t thatbe a violation of “The Spirit of Curling?”

2] MACCURLBER: Okay, Vicki, just calm down.Let me tell you a little something about “The Spirit ofCurling.” It’s just a load of worthless hooey aboutskill, traditions, kindly feelings, and honorable con-duct fabricated by a bunch of kilt-wearing old cootswith way too much time on their hands. Nowhere inany of the three paragraphs of text does “The Spirit ofCurling” happen to mention anything about anybodyrewiring a sensor han...

1] KA-BOOM!!!!! [CUT to the arena exploding,spewing smoke and chunks of blue hone granitestones everywhere.] V.O. Singers: MACCURLBER-RRR!!!!! [FADE to black.]

– Richard Maskel

Eight-Enders

Capital

An eight-ender was laidby a Bismarck, N.D., youthteam on March 20, 2010,during the annual CapitalCurling Club ’Spiel.Curling on the team wereNicole Korsmo (age 12),Emma Neigum (age 17),Lexi Folmer (age 13) andAlaina Martin (age 12).

Bemidji

On March 20, 2011, dur-ing the Lyle DerosierMemoral BeveragesBonspiel at the BemidjiCurling Club, Bemidji,Minn., an eight-ender waslaid by Chris Braaten, SteveThorson, Scott Peterson andTony Marty.

Albany

The Mashmann rinkscored an eight-ender dur-ing Sunday league play, onMarch 27, 2011, at theAlbany Curling Club,Albany, N.Y. Curling on theteam were GarthMashmann, Matt Martin,Pam Smith and EmmaForster.

Superior

On March 4, 2011, aneight-ender was scored bythe Jim Bradshaw rink dur-ing the Northwest Bonspielat the Superior CurlingClub in Superior, Wis. Theeight-ender was scored inthe second end. Curlingwith Bradshaw was JohnBradshaw, Scott Muller andTim Bradshaw.

St. Paul

On Nov. 10, 2010, in theWednesday 4:50 p.m.league at the St. PaulCurling Club, St. Paul,Minn., an eight-ender waslaid by the Gary Papenfussrink on Sheet 8 in the firstend. Members of the teamwere Gary Papenfuss, JimKmiecik, Bill Wainberg and

Bill Zabowski.

Superior

On March 10, 2011,Team Christensen laid aneight-ender in the ThursdayMixed League at theSuperior Curling Club,Superior, Wis. Team mem-bers were Ron Christensen,Sandra Henkel, AndyStensland and MarciaJablonski.

Chisholm

During the Ladies FunSpiel on Jan. 22, 2011, atthe Chisholm Curling Club,Chisholm, Minn., theMarge Martin team scoredan eight-ender. Curling on

the team with Martin wereSue Vidmar, MicheleDrlaca and VickieTrenberth.

Duluth

The Jess Brozic rink laidan eight-ender on March29, 2011, during the quar-terfinal game of the Bagleyat the Duluth Curling Club,Duluth, Minn. The Bagleyis when all 86 men’s teamsin Duluth play down for themen’s club champion. Theevent takes place for thewhole month of March.Team members were JessBrozic, Tom Brozic, FilipeDelSalvo and ReidJohnson.



The Funny Side

What’s an arena curlingclub’s most coveted posses-sion? Well, it’s the B.A.R.of course. Historically, acurling club’s B.A.R. iswhere you go to celebrateyour hard-fought victory,brag about your KevinMartin-like or your DebbieMcCormick-like shot youmade in the last end, or todrown your sorrows in apitcher of beer because youjust gave up an eight-ender.Only our B.A.R. is a bitdifferent. You see, ourB.A.R. is where we keepour rocks. No, not the icecubes that go into cocktails,more the 42-pound granitecurling rock variety. Oh,this is probably a good timeto tell you that a B.A.R. is aBig Arse Refrigerator.

Curl San Diego wasestablished in 2006 and wecurl on arena ice. Untilnow, we did not have aB.A.R. to keep our rockscold. That meant that a vol-unteer or two would have toshow up at the ice rink 12to 24 hours before everyleague game, pick-up gameor learn-to-curl event to putthe rocks on snow. Therocks were carted fromtheir storage locker at thefar end of the rink to theZamboni room. TheZamboni operator woulddump a pile of snow on thefloor and a volunteer(s)would have to shovel thesnow into a long pile alonga wall within the Zamboniroom. The snow would thenbe covered with plasticsheeting and the stoneswould be placed on top.All 64 of them. Every timewe curl. Oh, when we are

done curling, we have toput them all back in theirstorage locker. Can you say,dedication? I mean, you’vereally got to want to curl togo through this every week!

That’s why we’re reallyexcited about acquiring ournew B.A.R. While we stillhave to take the rocks outto the playing surface andput them away after we’redone, we no longer have toshow up the day before toshovel snow. No offense toour friends in the north orthe east, but here in SanDiego we don’t do thatthing called “winter” andwe just prefer not to shovelsnow.

Curl San Diego’s clubpresident, FrancescaSomma, was able to score akiller deal on a very slightlyused walk-in cooler. After alot of hard work, she locat-ed our B.A.R. in LosAngeles. Francesca and Ibraved the trip in a bor-rowed Prius (which ran outof gas on the freeway, bythe way) to “see the goods”and make the final decision.They arranged to have itdelivered to San Diego, andworked with IceoplexGeneral Management PierreDufour to allow the club toinstall the B.A.R.

Personally, I still long forthe day that Curl San Diegogets a B.A.R. that I canorder a pitcher of micro-brew or a Caesar for one ofmy Canadian friends in. Inthe meantime, we (and ourbacks) are really happy tohave our B.A.R. and appre-ciate all of Francesca’s hardwork. Now, if we can justfigure out how to not showup early to set the hacks,hang the scoreboards andpebble the ice.

Curl San Diego members recently purchased a refirgerated stor-

age unit for their 64 stones so they don’t have to arrive 12-24

hours before every event to cool the rocks with snow.

Submitted photo

Happy hour atCurl San Diego

by Marychello Brown,

Curl San Diego

Green Bay to host wheelchair curling camp

ave you ever wondered what thesport of wheelchair curling is allabout? Do you have aspirations torepresent the United States at the

World Championships? Are you a futureParalympian? Well then, we need you!

On June 2-5, the United States CurlingAssociation is hosting a free NationalWheelchair Curling Camp at the GreenBay Curling Club. We are inviting allprospective wheelchair athletes as well asindividuals with interest in developing pro-grams and serving as local coaches for thisexciting and growing Paralympic sport.Existing wheelchair curlers are invited toattend as well to further hone your skills.The U.S. National Coach and AssistantCoach will provide instruction throughoutthe weekend.

Our goal is to provide the buildingblocks necessary to develop programsacross the nation in an effort to enrich ourconsumer’s lives as well as increase our

pool of athletes, thereby improving ourlikelihood of winning gold at future WorldChampionships and Paralympic WinterGames.

The camp schedule is as follows: • Thursday, June 2: 12-6 p.m.• Friday, June 3: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. • Saturday, June 4: 9 a.m.-8 p.m.• Sunday, June 5: 9 a.m.-noon

Athletes can choose to attend for oneday or multiple days as topics will be rein-forced each day.

A number of rooms have been blockedoff at the Days Inn Green Bay LambeauField for this event. Please use the contactinformation below to make your reserva-tion:

• 1978 Holmgren Way, U.S. Hwy 41 &Lombardi Ave., Green Bay, WI 54304

• Phone: 920-498-8088, • Fax: 920-498-8492 • [email protected] registration deadline is May 23rd.

For more information, contact MarcDePerno at [email protected] or 315-737-2459 to register or for any questions.

by Marc DePerno, National Wheelchair

Curling Outreach Development Director

H

The junior curling season came to anend the weekend of March 18 with theannual Green Bay Curling Club JuniorBonspiel. This year, we hosted 15 teamsfrom throughout the state in two brackets.

We had a small developmental bracketthis year, with three young teams playingfour six-end games each over the weekend,and learning some of the finer points of’spieling (mostly about the food!). TheRachel Kawleski team from Stevens Pointplayed in their first ’spiel ever, and accord-ing to their coach, had never played morethan three ends at one time. By Sundaymorning they were old pros.

The final was won by the AprilWeatherbee team from Portage over anoth-er Portage team skipped by Jayde Curley.

We had great competition in the compet-itive bracket, with many great games, andmany surprises.

Mikey Juszczyk, in his turn as skip, ledhis rink to the third-event crown over hisbrother Tommy and the rest of the BlakeMorton team from Madison. The RyanJohnston rink from Waupaca beat a teamfrom Portage skipped by Katie Dubbersteinfor the second-event crown.

In the first-event final, the team skippedby Wes Cuomo of Kettle Moraine beatEvan Jensen from Medford and his team.Cuomo and his team of Tyler Tylinski,Ethan Heinze and JP Munich won the firstevent in their first appearance in GreenBay, with a strong showing throughout theweekend.

The ’spiel was a great success, withmany club members and parents pitchingin to make it a truly great event for kids.

by Harry Maier,

Green Bay Curling Club

Green Bay hosts 15 teams to conclude junior season



his summer, many U.S.Curling Association(USCA) representativeswill be showing up at vari-

ous summerspiels to enjoy thegames and camaraderie, but also toshare information about significantchanges being proposed for howthe national organization is struc-tured and operates. They’ll also bekeenly interested in hearing whatindividual USCA members have tosay about how they think theUSCA should operate. This is, afterall, your national organization.

These “Town Hall” meetingswill be publicized as far in advanceas possible, and some may bescheduled separate from summer-spiels to provide opportunities toshare information and listen tofeedback in areas where there maynot be curling on the summer cal-endar.

The USCA convened a gover-nance task force in September 2010to thoroughly look at the USCA’scurrent organizational structure,and to come back to the Board ofDirectors by the recent springmeeting with any recommendedchanges. The task force met severaltimes, both in person and by con-ference call, including with con-sultants who helped review bestpractices for non-profit organiza-tions. The group also reached outto other Olympic sport governingbodies, the Canadian CurlingAssociation and World CurlingFederation. The task force’s pro-posals sought to incorporate all thatwas learned while shaping an orga-nizational model that would workbest to help curling prosper in theU.S.

In elevator-ride length mode,here are the essential reasons forthe proposed changes, and desiredoutcomes: “The USCA needs tocontinue to evolve in order to bestserve its members as well asenhance and manage relationshipswith various partners and funders.In 53 years, the organization hasgrown from running a singlenational championship to nowoverseeing a dozen or more a year,plus trying to fulfill the growth anddevelopment needs of 165 clubsand 16,000 members, and selectand train Olympic teams. TheUSCA needs to strategically func-tion more like a business than avolunteer-run association.”

If you’re interested in learningmore, please read on for a littlemore detail about what is beingproposed and why. Please see thesidebar article on the abbreviatedhistory of the USCA for additionalbackground information that maybe helpful as you consider theseproposals.

Now and the future

The USCA currently has a vol-unteer-based Board of Directorswith 28 members. Eighteen areelected directly by the USCAstates/ regions (there are 11, plus an“At-Large” group); six are electedby the Athletes Advisory Council(AAC); two are board-elected; oneis appointed by the U.S. Women’sCurling Association, and one is aWorld Curling Federation represen-

tative with voice but no vote. TheUSCA also has a staff of six full-time employees in the nationaloffice. The Board is a “workingboard,” with the officers and manyothers doing a lot of hands-onoperational work and daily plan-ning and program development, inconjunction with the staff, which isled by a chief operating officer.There is a myriad of committees,something like 30. The actual vot-ing members of the USCA are thestates/regions.

The new structure being pro-posed would feature a Board ofDirectors of up to 15 people, with achairman as the only officer. Theboard would hire a chief executiveofficer who would be charged withtaking policy and broad directionfrom the board, jointly developinga strategic plan, and overseeing theorganization to meet the stated mis-sion and objectives. The boardwould be much more big-picturefocused, and also fundraising ori-ented.

The proposed new board wouldhave seven directors elected by thecurling clubs who are members ofthe Member’s Assembly, threeelected by the AAC, and five whowould be board-elected. Therewould be five committees, includ-ing a nominating committee con-sisting of five members who wouldbe ineligible to also serve on theboard.

Of the seven Assembly-electeddirectors, the proposal calls for atleast one to be an individual mem-ber of an arena-based curling club;one an individual member of alarge curling club (500+ members),and one an individual member of asmall curling club (less than 500members). Besides serving as thevoting body for the seven member-elected directors, the Member’sAssembly would also be an annualgathering of information, educationand idea sharing for all USCAmember clubs.

The five board-elected direc-tors—also termed independentdirectors—would be chosen basedon the skill sets and particular abili-ties desired to help fulfill the mis-sion of the USCA. They would notnecessarily be people who are notcurlers. The definition of “indepen-dent” means, among other things,that these directors are not current-ly holding an office in a curlingclub or state/region, or areemployed by or doing businesswith the USCA.

While the states/regions wouldnot hold the voting power anymore,they would still have a powerfulpurpose in organizing state/regionalchampionship events and continu-ing to provide the many servicesseveral already do to their clubs,such as individual curler and clubdevelopment.

The above is just a briefoverview of current proposals, andplease understand that the summer-long communication period ismeant to share more information,gather feedback, and fine-tune theproposals to help shape the bestpossible structure for the USCAgoing forward.

Your regional USCA representa-tives were part of a Board ofDirectors discussion of the pro-

posed changes at their annualspring meeting in late April, soplease consider reaching out tothem if you would like to learnmore details.

Reasons to evolve

The current USCA:• Has a scope of responsibilities

well beyond the original purpose ofthe organization, which was toorganize and conduct champi-onships between its members, thestate and regional associations.

• Is struggling to achieve a bal-anced representative model withthe growth of curling in non-tradi-tional geographic areas.

• Lacks a focused and effectiveprogram for long-term fundraising.

• Has a convoluted structure

with blurred lines between the vol-unteer board duties and employedstaff duties.

• Is disconnected with clubs andindividual curlers.

• Is limited in its ability to attractdirectors with specific talents andexperiences that can help develop amore effective and financiallyhealthy organization.

Any new organizational modelwill need to maintain the best ofthe volunteerism that helps curlingthrive throughout the nation. It willalso need to promote professional-ism—both in operations and policymaking—that a NationalGoverning Body in the U.S.Olympic movement is expected toachieve.

Continued evolution of USCA a major discussion topicby Rick Patzke,

Associate Editor

Here is a much abbreviatedhistory of the USCA that mayprovide some useful back-ground for the discussionsabout the evolution of theorganization.

Fifty-three years ago, theU.S. Curling Association’sroots were planted in the formof the U.S. Men’s CurlingAssociation. It was preceded bythe U.S. Women’s CurlingAssociation, founded in 1946.

When founded in 1958, theprimary mission of the U.S.Men’s Curling Association wasto organize and finance a men’snational championship. By1985, the organization hadevolved into the USCA wasalso supporting a junior men’snational championship andmixed championship, as wellcontributing to a national curl-ing publication.

The USCA’s evolution con-tinued with the establishment ofa national office and hiring ofDavid Garber as the first execu-tive director in 1985. The officebecame a national clearing-house for membership develop-ment information, and also ini-tiated a club liability insuranceprogram.

The USCA started a juniorwomen’s national champi-onship in 1987, and alsoassumed the operation of thewomen’s national champi-onship at about that same time.This included taking on thecosts of running these events aswell as the housing and trans-portation expenses for the 17state/regional championshipteams competing at this time inthe women’s and juniorwomen’s nationals.

The progression of theUSCA took another leap for-ward in 1987, with affiliatedsports organization membershipin the U.S. OlympicCommittee. This allowed U.S.curlers to compete in the 1988and 1992 Winter Olympics,where curling was a demonstra-tion sport in both locations. TheUSOC membership also gavethe USCA access to over$60,000 in grants that fundedCurl America development pro-grams.

According to USCA records,in 1985 the organization wasspending around $20,000 annu-ally on what was termed mem-ber services. This increased to$300,000 by 1995, a year whenUSCA dues were $8 per house-hold head and $3 for additionalhousehold members, and mem-bership stood at around 10,000.In 2010, the USCA spent$472,000 on “growth and sup-port,” which incorporates allmember services and promotionand development programs.

In 1992, curling became afull-medal Olympic sport, andthe USCA became the NationalGoverning Body in 1994,meaning that the organizationtook on the responsibility ofoverseeing the Olympic pro-gram. In the fall of 1996, theUSCA hired its first MemberServices manager and commu-nications manager.

At the start of the 2001-02season, there were 119 clubslisted as USCA members.Today, three Olympics later,there are 165.

Since 2001-02, USACurling’s membership hasgrown 49 percent.

T

The following USA Curling camps areon tap this summer and fall:

JUNE

• Wheelchair Curling Camp, June 2-5,Green Bay Curling Club, Green Bay, Wis.• Level I and II instructor clinic, June 18,Oakland, Calif.• Adult skills camp, June 18, Oakland,Calif.

JULY

• Youth Olympic Games playdown prepara-tion camp, July 19-20, Capital Curling Club,Bismarck, N.D.• Green Bay Junior Camp, Green Bay

Curling Club, Green Bay, Wis.AUGUST

• GNCC Junior Camp, Aug. 11-14, BucksCounty Curling Club, Warminster, Penn.• Rice Lake Junior Camp, Aug. 19-21, RiceLake, Wis.

OCTOBER

• No Boundaries Junior Camp and Bonspiel,Oct. 21-24, Capital Curling Club, Bismarck,N.D.

To learn more about any of the abovecamps, visit the USA Curling website atwww.usacurl.org or call the office at 888-287-5377.

Camp Calendar

A brief history of the USCA:

he Granite CurlingClub’s Brady Clarkrink continues tobuild upon its

mixed curling dynasty asthe Washington teamdefeated Alaska, 6-5, onMarch 26 to win the 2011USA Curling MixedNational Championship inMidland, Mich.

This is the eighth U.S.mixed title from BradyClark and wife CristinClark (Lynnwood, Wash.),third win for Phil Tilker(Seattle) and seventh titlefor Bev Walter (Seattle).Earlier this season, theClarks won their secondmixed doubles title and alsorepresented the U.S. at theupcoming World MixedDoubles Championship inApril at the St. Paul CurlingClub.

“It was a great eventwith great competition,”Brady Clark said. “Thefinal was a well-playedgame, and Alaska was agreat opponent. We arethankful to have won thischampionship.”

Alaska’s team of SteveShuttleworth, KayeHufman, Greg Persingerand Cathy Shuttleworth (allof Fairbanks) fell behind 2-0 at the start of the match.Alaska tied the game with asteal in the fourth to whichWashington countered witha deuce to take a 4-2 half-time lead.

Washington held Alaska

to a single in the sixth andthen scored another deuceto keep control of thematch. After being limitedto yet another single in theninth, Alaska needed tosteal two in the 10th to tryto force an extra end. The2004 mixed champion

Shuttleworth stole one, butit wasn’t enough asWashington’s Clark rinkclaimed its eighth title in 10years.

Maryland’s Scott Edierink held off a late rally byOhio’s Robb Borland towin the bronze-medal

match, 10-7, in an extraend. Edie (Middletown,Md.) and his team ofJennifer Atkinson(Harwood, Md.), SeanMurray (Edgewood, Md.)and Rebecca BaxterErickson (Wheaton, Md.)quickly built a 4-0 leadover Ohio.

Borland (Kent, Ohio)and his team of ElseFesterson (Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio), Matt Dolloff(Chagrin Falls, Ohio) andJulia DiBaggio (GarfieldHeights, Ohio) started tobattle back in the third endas they scored a deuce andthen stole three points overthe next two ends to take a5-4 advantage.

Maryland countered witha deuce and a steal to pullahead once again, 7-5, aftereight ends. Ohio was heldto a single in the ninth butstole the 10th to force anextra end. Maryland wouldclinch the bronze medal byhanging three points on thescoreboard in the 11th.



2011 U.S. Mixed

National Championship

March 19-26, Midland, Mich.

Washington 8-1Alaska 7-2Maryland 5-4Minnesota 5-4Ohio 5-4Wisconsin 5-4Illinois 4-5Arizona 3-6North Dakota 2-7Colorado 1-8

Tiebreakers:

Ohio 002 020 200 3 – 9*Minnesota 110 101 022 0 – 8

*Maryland 200 001 010 2 – 6Wisconsin 000 210 001 0 – 4

Semifinals:*Washington 332 02x xxx x – 10Ohio 000 00x xxx x – 0

*Alaska 221 102 3xx x – 11Maryland 000 020 0xx x – 2

Bronze medal:

Ohio 002 120 001 10 – 7*Maryland 310 000 210 03 – 10

Championship Final:

*Washington 110 020 020 0 – 6Alaska 001 101 001 1 – 5

Gold: Brady Clark, Cristin Clark,Philip Tilker, Bev WalterSilver: Steve Shuttleworth, KayeHufman, Greg Persinger, CathyShuttleworthBronze: Scott Edie, JenniferAtkinson, Sean Murray, RebeccaBaxter EricksonFourth: Robb Borland, ElseFestersen, Matthew Dolloff, JuliaDiBaggio

Most U.S. Mixed National

Championship titles by a skip:

8 – Brady Clark (2011, 2010, 2009,2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002) 2 – 8 other skips tied with 2 titlesapiece

Most U.S. Mixed National

Championship titles by

region (since 1975):

11 – Washington & Wisconsin5 – Minnesota4 – North Dakota2 – Colorado1 – Alaska, Great Lakes, Illinois,Grand National

Washington continues mixed dominanceby Terry Kolesar,

Editor

T

2011 USA Curling Mixed National champions (l-r) Brady Clark,

Cristin Clark, Phil Tilker and Bev Walter of Seattle’s Granite

Curling Club.

Submitted photo

2010 Olympians

Tracy Sachtjen

and John Benton

recently led a

curling demon-

stration at Squaw

Valley in Lake

Tahoe as part of

the San Francisco

49ers Winterfest,

a major fund-

raiser for the

49ers

Foundation.

Sachtjen and

Benton teamed up

with 49ers Head

Coach Jim

Harbaugh and

General Manager

Trent Baalke to

play in the first-ever 49ers Bonspiel (Sachtjen won). Rocks and equipment were pro-

vided by the Wine Country Curling Club. Club member Jerome Larson assisted with

the two curling demonstrations and logistics. The Oympians were invited to the

Winterfest by the event organizers and treated to a weekend of skiing and other activi-

ties at the Resort at Squaw Creek. Videos of the curling demonstration and other

activities can be viewed online at www.49ers.com/community/winter-fest.html.

Photos by Terrell Lloyd

San Francisco 49ersembrace curling

Hall of Famenominations

sought

Nominations are now

being accepted for the

USA Curling Hall of

Fame.

Curlers can be nomi-

nated in three categories:

curler, builder or

curler/builder based on

the candidate’s contribu-

tions to the sport.

Nomination paperwork

can be found online at

www.usacurl.org/good-

curling. The deadline for

submissions is June 1,

2011.

Submit supporting

information to the USA

Curling office via e-mail

to Dawn Leurquin at

[email protected],

via fax at 715-344-2279

or by mail to 5525

Clem’s Way, Stevens

Point, WI 54482.

Selection is determined

by the Athlete/Curler

Recognition Committee.

Team leader,coach info for YouthOlympicsavailable

Information relating tothe selection of coach andteam leaders positions forthe 2012 Youth OlympicWinter Games is availableon the USA Curling web-site at www.usacurl.org forthoseinterestedin apply-ing.

Theplaydownto deter-mineTeamUSA willtake placeinNovember. A camp to assistin preparing teams for theplaydown is scheduled July19-20 in Bismarck.

atti Lank and TeamUSA finished theweek defeating thetop-seeded and

eventual champions fromSweden to finish in seventhplace at the 2011 CapitalOne World Women’sCurling Championship atGranly Hockey Arena.

With the win, Lank(Lewiston, N.Y.) and team-mates Debbie McCormick(Rio, Wis.), Jessica Schultz(Richfield, Minn.), CaitlinMaroldo (Rochester, N.Y.)and Mackenzie Lank(Lewiston, N.Y.) finish witha 6-5 record after defeatingSweden, 8-3.

“That’s the way we’resupposed to play,” Lanksaid after the win. To sumup the week, Lank said theteam played “hot and cold.”The team used multiplelineups, including three-time OlympianMcCormick, who came intothe tournament as the alter-nate, in an effort to find thebest combination on the iceto position themselves for ashot at a medal.

“It was good when we allfinally got on the samepage,” said Lank, who hasnow played in five worldchampionships. “I wish wehad one more game. I wishI could take back that shotagainst Scotland.” Lankmissed an open takeout inthe USA’s third game of thetournament that may havehaunted the team.

“We’re disappointed thatwe didn’t medal, but we

feel like we represented theU.S. very well,” saidMcCormick, a three-timeOlympian and 2003 worldchampion.

Anette Norberg’sSwedish team clinched aplayoff spot and a spot inthe Page 1-2 game prior tothe round robin finaleagainst the Americans.

Although the scoreboardindicates a large win, theway the match began, itlooked to be a Swedish routafter a sloppy first end bythe Americans. Lank madea double takeout with herlast rock to cut Swedendown to three points. USAstraightened up in the sec-ond end, but Sweden con-tinued to dominate as Lankwas forced to draw througha port to the button for one.

“I was a little scaredafter the first end. I think itgot us all mad and weknuckled down,” Lank said.“We know we can playagainst any of these teamsout here and do well.”

Multiple misses by theAmericans in the fourth endnearly became a disasteruntil an end-saving come-around draw to the four-foot by McCormick stayedas shot rock for the rest ofthe end to result in a stealof one. USA got a stoneburied on the button in thefifth end that Norbergmissed with her first toss.Lank drew around thestones at the top of thehouse to stick a second rockonto the U.S. stone.Norberg moved one out butgave up a steal of one andthe game was tied 3-3.

USA played a solid sixthend that was capped withLank making a perfectangle-tap to promote theU.S. stone into shot posi-tion leaving 14 rocks inplay. Norberg simply threwher last rock away to con-cede the steal as there was

no shotavailable forher toattempt.

USA waslying fourwhenSweden’svice skipCissiOstlundtried todraw intothe four-foot, but lefther shotshort of thetarget in theseventh end.Lank guard-ed the U.S.bounty withNorbergattempting atap-back tocut it tothree withher firststone. Lankguardedagain andNorberg’ssecond tap-back failedand the U.S.stole threemore points.

In the eighth, Lank madea takeout to leave four U.S.rocks in scoring position.Norberg stuck her stone inthe top eight-foot, but Lankclogged the easy route tothe four-foot with a centerguard. The end result wasanother steal for the U.S. soSweden opted to end thematch and start preparingfor the playoffs.

That last playoff appear-ance for the U.S. womenwas in 2007 in Japan, whenthe Americans finishedfourth. Norberg’s last worldchampionship title was in2006 when she defeatedMcCormick in GrandePrairie, Alberta. However,Norberg won the goldmedal in Vancouver at the

2010 Olympic WinterGames. The U.S. has onewomen’s world champi-onship title to its credit withMcCormick earning thegold in 2003.

“My goal coming in hereas an alternate was to be the‘go-to’ girl for the team.Whatever they needed fromme, I was willing to bethere and to be upbeat,”McCormick said. “I washappy to be able to con-tribute in whatever way Icould, and getting on theice was a bonus. We hungin there, and I am incredi-bly proud of these girls. Iknow from experience thatit isn’t always easy to makeline-up changes, and thesegirls handled it so well.They came in here withgoal of winning a world

championship and doingwhatever it took to do that.”

Sweden went on todefeat Canada, 7-5, to earnthe gold medal. China wentto an extra end to defeathost Denmark, 10-9, to earnthe bronze medal.

The 2012 Ford WorldWomen’s CurlingChampionship will takeplace March 17-25 inLethbridge, Alberta.



2011 World Women’s

Championship

March 19-27, Esbjerg, Denmark

Round Robin

Sweden 9-2China 8-3Denmark 7-4Canada 7-4Switzerland 7-4Russia 6-5USA 6-5Germany 5-6Scotland 4-7Norway 3-8Korea 2-9Czech Republic 2-9

Playoffs:

Tiebreaker:

Switzerland 000 201 030 0 – 6*Canada 021 020 200 1 – 8

Page 1-2 Game:

*Sweden 100 100 310 1 – 7China 001 012 002 0 – 6

Page 3-4 Game:

*Denmark 102 002 002 00 – 7Canada 020 110 020 13 – 10

Semifinal:*China 200 001 002 0 – 5Canada 001 120 200 2 – 8

Bronze-Medal Game:

Denmark 102 001 030 20 – 9*China 020 310 102 01 – 10

Gold-Medal Game:

*Sweden 101 010 101 2 – 7Canada 000 301 010 0 – 5

Gold: SwedenSilver: CanadaBronze: ChinaFourth: Denmark

Frances Brodie Sportsmanship

Award Recipient: Henriette Lovar,Norway

USA games:

Switzerland 5, USA 3USA 7, Denmark 6Scotland 7, USA 6Russia 11, USA 4USA 9, Germany 4USA 8, Korea 6Canada 9, USA 6USA 6, Norway 5China 14, USA 5USA 6, Czech Republic 4USA 8, Sweden 3

USA team percentage & rank:

Team, 73% (T-9)Skip, Patti Lank, 71% (10th)Vice skip, Caitlin Maroldo, 66% (12th)Second, Jessica Schultz, 72% (T-10)Lead, Mackenzie Lank, 82% (4th)Alternate, Debbie McCormick, 73%(7 games played)

Most World Women’s

Championship titles by nation:

15 – Canada8 – Sweden 2 – Norway, Germany, Switzerland1 – USA, Scotland, Denmark, China

Most overall medals,

World Women’s Championship

(since 1979):

28 – Canada (15 gold, 6 silver, 7bronze)21 – Sweden (8 gold, 6 silver, 7bronze)13 – Norway (2 gold, 4 silver, 7bronze)10 – Scotland (1 gold, 4 silver, 5bronze)9 – Switzerland (2 gold, 2 silver, 5bronze)8 – Germany (2 gold, 3 silver, 3bronze) & Denmark (1 gold, 2 silver,5 bronze)6 – USA (1 gold, 5 silver)3 – China (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

Go to www.usacurl.organd start saving today!

U.S. ladies finish seventh at Worlds in Denmark

P

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

Five-time U.S. champion Patti Lank releases a stone as Jessica Schultz (left) and Mackenzie Lank,

Patti’s 16-year-old daughter, prepare to sweep during action at the 2011 Capital One World

Women’s Championship in Denmark.


USA vice skip Caitlin Maroldo (above) keeps an

eye on a stone sliding down the ice. Alternate

Debbie McCormick (left) delivers a stone during

round robin action. McCormick, a three-time

Olympian, played in seven games in various posi-

tions as the American ladies rotated players.

Photos by Leslie Ingram-Brown

hat a difference a yearmakes. A year ago inCortina, Italy, PeteFenson and Team USA’s

record was 8-3 and they were prep-ping for a run in the playoffs. Fastforward a year and in an odd turn ofevents, the Americans finished theweek in Regina, Saskatchewan, at theBrandt Center with the record inreverse as the round robin came to aclose at the 2011 Ford World Men’sChampionship.

Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and team-mates Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm,Minn.), Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.) andRyan Brunt (Bemidji, Minn.) weretrying to play spoiler in the roundrobin finale as Thomas Dufour’sFrance rink sought a spot in the play-offs for France for the first time since1973. It would the French men, withTony Angiboust throwing last rocks,smiling as the final stone was thrownto convert a double takeout for the 9-7 victory.

With the loss, the U.S. finisheswith a 3-8 record, which equates to10th place in the field of 12 teams.

“I told the guys tonight to have agood time out there. We can’t win thebonspiel, but we can win the game.There’s a big crowd, we’re here, goout and have a little fun and see whatwe can do,” Fenson said. “It was funfor awhile. It was a hard game, whichis what you expect, but we tried toenjoy ourselves the most we could,and we’ll go like crazy to try to getback here again.”

With the win, France moved on toplay Norway in a tiebreaker match,which they lost 5-4.

For the Americans, the end of theround robin brought the completion ofa frustrating week battling the ice.

“Same deal, we missed a fewdraws early and we just didn’t pick upthe ice fast enough again and misseda few shots because of it. That’s kindof the tale of the whole week,”Fenson said after the game. “The iceis good; we just didn’t get it everygame. We didn’t have a perfect lineon some hits and didn’t have the per-fect speed on some draws. We madesome, obviously, but weren’t as sharp

as we had to be,and that’s it. Wewere trying, work-ing hard trying toget it, and justnever really, reallygot it. Tonight wasnot all that differ-ent. The Frenchplayed great, too.They made theshots they had tomake, and that wasit.”

France stole thefirst two ends asthey capitalized onmisses by theAmericans. Afterthe U.S. earned asingle in the third,the game nearlygot put out ofreach in the fourthend as France hadan opportunity to score four or fivepoints.

The U.S. escaped as Angiboust’sfirst stone slid too deep and left apocket for Fenson to place his finalstone in. Angiboust’s in-off jammed,and the Americans stole a point to tiethe game. France countered with adeuce, and then capitalized on aheavy draw by Fenson in the sixth tosteal one and extend the lead, 5-2.

USA nearly tied the game in theseventh but the measurement for threewent in favor of France. A failed run-back by Dufour removed the Frenchshot rock and gave the Americanscontrol in the eighth end. But, Fensongave the French an easy escape routewhen his last rock slid to the back ofthe eight-foot. Angiboust converted anin-off shot from the weeds to scoretwo and take a 7-4 lead.

A couple of misses by the Frenchled to a takeout for three for theAmericans to tie the game in the ninthend. Trying to do what several teamsdid to them this week, the U.S. aimedto steal the 10th end and the win.Fenson positioned his first stone intoshot rock by nudging the French rockinto the eight-foot. With 35 secondsleft on the game clock, Fenson slidout of the hack with his final stone ofthe tournament, drawing into the backof the four-foot. Angiboust made thedouble takeout to win the game.

Canada’s Jeff Stoughton rink wenton to defeat Scotland’s Tom Brewsterteam, 6-5, to win the gold medal.Sweden’s Niklas Edin defeatedNorway’s Thomas Ulsrud, 7-6, toearn the bronze. Four games from the2011 Men’s Worlds are available forviewing online by visiting theUniversal Sports website and lookingunder the video links for curling.

The 2012 World Men’s CurlingChampionship will take place March31-April 8 in Basel, Switzerland.



2011 World Men’s Championship

April 2-10, Regina, Saskatchewan

Round Robin

Canada 10-1Scotland 9-2Sweden 7-4Norway 7-4France 7-4Germany 6-5Switzerland 6-5Czech Republic 5-6China 4-7USA 3-8Korea 2-9Denmark 0-11

Playoffs:

Tiebreaker:

Norway 000 020 011 01 – 5*France 001 100 100 10 – 4

Page 1-2 Game:

Scotland 000 020 000 x – 2*Canada 020 001 011 x – 5

Page 3-4 Game:

Sweden 100 001 00x x – 2*Norway 031 210 00x x – 7

Semifinal:*Scotland 201 010 002 01 – 7Norway 020 102 000 10 – 6

Bronze-Medal Game:

*Norway 100 200 102 0 – 6Sweden 021 001 020 1 – 7

Gold-Medal Game:

Scotland 002 101 001 x – 5*Canada 100 030 020 x – 6

Gold: CanadaSilver: ScotlandBronze: SwedenFourth: Norway

Colin Campbell Sportsmanship

Award Recipient: Thomas Ulsrud,Norway

USA games:

USA 7, Denmark 4Switzerland 6, USA 4Sweden 11, USA 2Germany 5, USA 4Canada 5, USA 3USA 8, Czech Republic 4Norway 7, USA 6USA 8, Korea 4China 5, USA 4Scotland 7, USA 6France 9, USA 7

USA team percentage & rank:

Team, 81% (7th)Skip, Pete Fenson, 77% (8th)Vice skip, Shawn Rojeski, 78% (8th)Second, Joe Polo, 85% (2nd)Lead, Ryan Brunt, 84% (6th)

Most World Men’s Championship

titles by nation:

33 – Canada5 – Sweden & Scotland4 – USA3 – Switzerland & Norway


World Men’s Championship

(since 1959):

47 – Canada (33 gold, 8 silver, 6bronze)31 – Scotland (5 gold, 19 silver, 7bronze)21 – USA (4 gold, 5 silver, 12bronze)17 – Sweden (5 gold, 6 silver, 6bronze)16 – Switzerland (3 gold, 6 silver, 7bronze) & Norway (3 gold, 4 silver, 9bronze)10 – Germany (5 silver, 5 bronze)2 – Finland and Denmark (2 bronzeeach)1 – France (1 bronze)

U.S. men finish 10th at 2011 Worldsby Terry Kolesar,

Editor

W

It was a week of frustrations for Team USA in Regina at the 2011 Men’s World

Championship as shows on the faces of Ryan Brunt (l-r), Shawn Rojeski and Joe Polo.

Fenson (below) calls the line for Brunt and Rojeski.


Rojeski (left) and Polo sweep for Brunt during round robin play in Regina. Seven-time

U.S. champ Fenson (right) delivers a stone.


n true dramatic fash-ion, the men’s gold-medal game went intoan extra end as Team

USA lost on the last rock toCanada, 5-4, April 23 at the2011 World Senior Champ-ionships at the St. PaulCurling Club. Canada’swomen also won the goldby defeating Sweden, 9-2.

Geoff Goodland’s finalstone of the extra end washeavy and hung out, slip-ping to the back of thehouse to give Canada’sMark Johnson the win.Goodland (Eau Claire,Wis.) and teammates TimSolin (Mahtomedi, Minn.),Pete Westberg (Naperville,Ill.), Ken Olson (Plymouth,Minn.) and Phil DeVore(Superior, Wis.) take homethe silver.

“I was surprised at howfast the first four ends went.Both teams played reallywell, and the fans had a lotof fun watching it. Whilewe would have liked towon the gold, we playedreally well,” Olson said.“To play that well in agold-medal game, you can’task for anything more other

than getting the gold. I haveno regrets from this week-end.”

This was the seventhgold medal for theCanadian men. “That was agreat game. It was so closeall the way,” Johnson said.“With good shots beingmade by both teams all theway, it was one of thosegames that you didn’t knowwho was going to win it.The pressure was on quite abit and stealing the point inthe extra at the end therewas very fortunate.”

The American ladies, ledby Margie Smith (Shore-view, Minn.), fell toSwitzerland’s ChantalForrer, 5-4, in the bronze-medal game to finishfourth.

“This is disappointing.We had a good week andafter finishing second in theround robin we figured wewould be at least two orthree,” Smith said.

This was the first bronzemedal for this particularSwiss skip but overall theSwiss have won six medalsat Senior Worlds.

“It’s paradise on Earth –it’s brilliant,” said SwissSkip Chantal Forrer afterthe game. “Especially afterthis morning’s game wherewe lost by so little. TheAmericans played verywell. It was a good game.”

Smith and teammatesDebbie Dexter (St. Paul,Minn.), Shelley Kosal(Edgerton, Wis.), SallyBarry (Eagan, Minn.) andRachel Orvik (Shoreview,Minn.) finish the week withan 8-4 overall record.

The U.S. ladies took anearly advantage with a stealin the second end. Theywould add to the score-board when Smith drew fora single in the fourth end toextend the lead to 3-1.Switzerland earned a deucein the fifth and stole a sin-gle in the sixth. The U.S.ladies were forced to a sin-

gle in the seventh end to tiethe game.

Trying to steal the finalend, Smith tried to tuck herlast stone behind a cornerguard to force the Swiss tomake their final shot butshe came up short of thehouse.

“It was really close, justa shot here or there. We hada couple of missed opportu-nities and that’s all ittakes,” Smith said. “Theyplayed really well. There’salways next year.”

The U.S. men earned adeuce to start the game asJohnson tried to freeze hisfinal stone to the U.S. rockin the four-foot, but was alittle too heavy and therewas plenty of separationbetween the stones to giveGoodland a takeout for two.After blanking the secondend, Canada finally got thedeuce set up in the third totie the game.

A triple takeout byJohnson, the 50-year-oldpolice officer fromEdmonton, Alberta, in thefifth end forced the U.S. tomake a hit for a single. Theteams exchanged singles asboth teams continued toshoot well.

In the eighth end,Canada covered the buttonwith a stone frozen behind

it early in the end. Solinwas able to shift the rockswith a runback that openedthings up around the four-foot. Goodland had anopportunity to take posses-sion of the button with hisfirst throw but he wreckedon the guard.

With two stones alreadyin scoring position aroundthe button, Johnson usedhis first stone to put a guardat the top of the 12-foot tocongest the route even fur-ther for the U.S. Goodlandused that rock in the top ofthe house to run it back andspilled out one of the shotrocks. Needing two pointsto win, Johnson tried todraw into second position,but wrecked at the top ofthe house to force overtime.With the hammer back, theU.S. had a chance to win,but Goodland’s final stonesank too deep and Canadastole the gold.

“In the extra end we hadour opportunities. Geoffmade a nice double andthey made a great draw tothe back of the four, and wejust came down a littleheavy but it was a lot of funout there,” Olson said.

Australia’s Hugh Milli-kin earned the bronzemedal by defeating Den-mark, 8-5.



2011 World Senior

Women’s Championship

Round Robin

Canada 10-0USA 8-2Sweden 7-3Switzerland 7-3Scotland 6-4Czech Republic 4-6Japan 4-6Ireland 3-7Russia 2-8New Zealand 2-8England 2-8

Semifinal:Switzerland 001 012 10 – 5*Canada 010 300 02 – 6

*USA 010 300 01 – 5Sweden 002 021 20 – 7

Bronze-Medal Game:

*USA 110 100 10 – 4Switzerland 001 021 01 – 5

Gold-Medal Game:

*Canada 304 002 xx – 9Sweden 000 110 xx – 2

USA round robin results:Switzerland 7, USA 5USA 10, England 2USA 8, Ireland 2Canada 5, USA 2USA 8, Sweden 3USA 8, Czech Republic 3USA 8, Russia 1USA 9, Scotland 3USA 7, Netherlands 1USA 16, Japan 4

Most World Women’s


7 – Canada2 – Sweden 1 – Scotland


World Senior Women’s

Championship (since 2002):

9 – Canada (7 gold, 2 silver)7 – Sweden (2 gold, 2 silver, 3bronze)6 – Switzerland (4 silver, 2 bronze)3 – Scotland (1 gold, 2 silver) &USA (3 bronze)1 – Japan (1 silver) & England (1bronze)

USA’s team of Geoff Goodland (l-r), Tim Solin, Pete Westberg, Ken Olson and Phil DeVore cap-

tured silver at the 2011 World Senior Championships in St. Paul. The U.S. ladies finished fourth.


2011 World Senior

Men’s Championship

Round Robin

Group A:

USA 6-0England 4-2Scotland 4-2Hungary 3-3Japan 3-3France 1-5Netherlands 0-6

Group B:

Canada 6-0Denmark 5-1Germany 4-2Sweden 3-3Finland 2-4Czech Republic 0-6

Group C:

Switzerland 6-0Australia 5-1New Zealand 4-2Ireland 3-3Wales 2-4Russia 1-5Latvia 0-6

Quarterfinals:

USA 011 300 1x – 6*New Zealand 100 010 0x – 2

*England 101 010 01 – 4Australia 020 102 00 – 5

*Switzerland 001 000 3x – 4Denmark 010 121 0x – 5

*Canada 310 200 3x – 9Scotland 001 020 0x – 3

Semifinal:Australia 000 100 xx – 1*Canada 311 033 xx – 11

Denmark 010 100 xx – 2*USA 402 041 xx – 11

Bronze-Medal Game:

Denmark 001 101 020 – 5*Australia 010 020 203 – 8

Gold-Medal Game:

Canada 002 010 011 – 5*USA 200 101 000 – 4

USA round robin results:USA 8, Japan 6USA 7, England 2USA 12, Netherlands 3USA 5, France 2USA 11, Scotland 3USA 8, Hungary 7

Most World Senior Men’s


7 – Canada2 – USA 1 – Scotland


World Senior Men’s


10 – Canada (7 gold, 3 silver)9 – USA (2 gold, 6 silver, 1bronze)4 – Sweden (1 silver, 3 bronze)3 – Scotland (1 gold, 2 bronze)2 – Switzerland (2 bronze) &Australia (2 bronze)

I

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

American men earn silver at 2011 World Seniors

The American ladies finished fourth after a close bronze-medal game with Switzerland. Team mem-

bers included (l-r) Margie Smith, Debbie Dexter, Rachel Orvik, Sally Barry and Shelly Kosal.




Championship hosts needed; Senior

Nationals dates moved up in the calendar

hampionship sites are stillneeded for the comingyear. Please consider host-ing any of the following:

Club Nationals, Mixed NationalChampionship, Men’s NationalsQualifiers (East and Midwest),Men’s and Women’s NationalsChallenge Round, and SeniorWomen’s Nationals.

This year, we will be putting anemphasis on working with hostsite’s icemakers to bring out thebest that your facility can be duringthe championship. National ice-maker Dave Staveteig and his crewcan pass on valuable techniques to

a host site, which will continue topay dividends long after the cham-pionship is done. Most of all, host-ing is a good time with curlersfrom across the country spendingtime in your club and community.To find out more about hosting,contact site chair Lynita Delaney,[email protected].

Playdown fees

Registration fees will beincreased $30 per team for club,mixed, mixed doubles, and seniors.This is to allow for increased reim-bursement for ice usage to the hostsites ($250 per day up to a maxi-mum of $1,000), and for more helpwith ice prep as previously noted.

Senior Nationals

The date for Senior Nationals

will be earlier this year (Nov. 30–Dec. 4 for the men; Dec. 2-4 forthe women, depending on entries).This change will free up more timein the peak championship seasonand will eliminate a conflict thathas made it impossible for seniorcompetitors to coach junior teams.Kudos to our seniors who havebeen distinguishing themselves atworld play. We have also voted toprovide a bit more financial helpfor our U.S. senior teams, using aportion of the entry fees to partiallyreimburse the teams traveling tothe Senior Worlds.

Officials

The following officials havecompleted all requirements forrecognition and have been certified

as Level III officials: Joe Roberts,Mary Pat Shandor, and MikeKirkeby. We thank them for theirhard work.

Youth Olympic Games

The newest World event, amixed competition for youngercurlers (16-17) is also the earliestcompetition. Our U.S. team for the2012 Youth Olympic Winter Gameswill be selected at a playdown to beheld approximately Nov. 17-20(depending on number of entries),at a site to be determined. Planahead for the early sign-up dead-line of Oct. 27. Check the USCAwebsite for more details about thecompetition, and about the specialcamp in Bismarck this summer forinterested young curlers.

by Jim Pleasants,

Vice President of Championships

C

Learn more about the high performance plan

n March, new USCADirector of HighPerformance DerekBrown and an adviso-

ry group put together the2011-12 High PerformancePlan (HPP), which was thenpresented to the U.S.Olympic Committee(USOC) for review, addi-tional input and fundingconsiderations.

The final plan and imple-mentation is dependentupon USOC approval andavailable resources, but it isenvisioned there will bethree separate opportunitiesfor U.S. curlers to accessprogram funding:USCA High Performance

National Team Program

The United StatesNational Team Program ispart of the USCA HighPerformance Programvision for sustained com-petitive excellence, and isdesigned to support our cur-rent top elite teams and ath-letes.

Athletes and teams willbe invited to become part ofthe USCA HighPerformance National TeamProgram based on perform-ances and results at interna-tional and national eventsduring the preceding two-year period. For the avoid-ance of doubt for season2011-12, performances andresults from seasons 2009-10 and 2010-11 will beconsidered, with the mostrecent season prioritized.The invitation criteria arebeing developed in con-junction with USOC highperformance personnel.

Performances and resultsfrom the following may beused to assess prospectiveathletes and teams:

1. Olympic WinterGames

2. World Championships

3. World Curling Tour4. U.S. National

Championships5. World Junior

ChampionshipsThe anticipated numbers

are as follows:• Season 2011-12 – Up

to a maximum of 4 teams(8-20 Athletes)

• Season 2012-13 – Upto a maximum of 6 teams(8-30 Athletes)

• Season 2013-14 – Upto a maximum of 8 teams(8-40 Athletes)USCA High Performance

Project 2018 Program

Project 2018 is part ofthe United States HighPerformance CurlingProgram’s long-term visionfor sustained competitiveexcellence. It is aimed atidentifying and developingathletes who aspire tobecome part of the USCAHigh Performance NationalTeam Program. The WorldUniversity Games, in addi-tion to the newly formedYouth Olympic Games,provide two key interna-tional competitive opportu-nities through whichProject 2018 can earmarksupport toward long-termcompetitive success andathlete development.

Athletes and teams canbe invited to become part ofthe USCA HighPerformance Project 2018Program based on perform-ances and results at interna-tional and national eventsduring the preceding two-year period. For the avoid-ance of doubt for season2011-12, performances andresults from seasons 2009-10 and 2010-11 will beconsidered, with the mostrecent season prioritized.Performances and resultsfrom the following may beused to assess prospectiveathletes and teams:

1. Olympic WinterGames

2. World Championships3. World University

Games4. World Junior

Championships5. World Curling Tour6. U.S. National

Championships7. U.S. National Junior

ChampionshipsThe number of athletes

and teams invited tobecome part of the Project2018 Program will dependon resources available. Theanticipated numbers are asfollows:

• Season 2011-12 – Upto a maximum of 2 teams(10 Athletes)



Athletes and teams whoare invited to join theUSCA High PerformanceNational Team Program andProject 2018 Program willbe expected to make a com-mitment by abiding by aUSCA High Performanceathlete contract, designed inconjunction with theUSOC. USCA Incentive Funding

As with the 2010-11 sea-son, incentive fundingwould be available to allcompetitive U.S. teams inthree distinct areas (seeUSCA website for moredetails), and is in keepingwith a joint missionbetween the USOC andUSA Curling to continue toraise levels of internationalcompetitive performance.The incentive fundingwould be available forachieving specified resultsin World Curling Tour andSub-Tour events; achievingspecified rankings on theend-of-year World CurlingTour Order of Merit, andfinishing 1st through 6th(with pro-rated awards) in

the 2012 Women’s andMen’s World CurlingChampionships.

Olympic Trials 2014

Brown and a HighPerformance Program advi-sory group have now turnedtheir attention toward draft-ing the 2014 Olympic TeamSelection Procedures,which also must beapproved by the U.S.Olympic Committee.Following the recommen-dations of the reviewprocess after the Vancouver2010 Games, it has beenproposed that OlympicTrials be held in the fall of

2013 to select our represen-tatives for the 2014Olympic Winter Games inSochi.

The format is yet to bedecided, but it is anticipatedthat there would be four tosix teams in each event(men and women). It wouldbe an open qualificationprocess for three of theteams, through the NationalChampionships in 2012 and2013. The fourth teamwould be invited to partici-pate by the HighPerformance AdvisoryGroup, following agreedupon criteria.

by Rick Patzke,

Associate Editor

I

Congratulations!

USWCA Five-Year and Under Bonspiel

Central Region

Columbus CC - Columbus, OhioChampions: The Chambers Rink - Utica, NYErica Chambers, JenniferMason, Abby Podgradtand Jennifer Firm

USWCA Five-Year and

Under Bonspiel

Wisconsin Region

Wauwatosa Curling Club -Wauwatosa, WIChampions: The DyeRink - Milwaukee, WIAlex Dye, Kevin Moran,Curt Crimmons and TomCristinson

The USWCA Congratulates The Circuit Winners

· Nearly $5,000 was paid to Circuit Winners!

· Shelly Pilon from the Exmoor Curling Club was theNational Winner

· Michele Heinze from Kettle Moraine was theWisconsin/West Region Winner

· Kayla Martin from the Utica Curling Club from theUtica Curling Club was the East Region Winner

· 18 USWCA Women Received Prize Money for TheInaugural Circuit Season!



Editor’s note: Last month

Jon Mielke wrote an article

titled “The most important

line.” It was so well

received that we convinced

him to be a Curling News

regular and will acquire the

same appearance fee as

Garber, Tuck and a host of

other celebrity columnists

(characters) featured in

these pages. I hope you find

his tips useful. Please send

feedback directly to Jon at

[email protected].

emember the“ABCs of a gooddelivery” – align-ment, balance,

and curl (grip, turn, andrelease)? In my recentCurling News article, Italked about the mostimportant line on a sheet ofcurling ice – the invisibleline from your hack foot tothe skip’s broom. That arti-cle was all about alignment.But, proper alignment and agood release cannot occurconsistently if the shooterdoesn’t have good balance.

Good balance and align-ment need to become sec-ond nature so the shootercan concentrate on thingslike weight control. So,how does a person developgood balance?

At the outset, I have totell you that balance is soimportant that it is going tobe the topic of this articleplus one in the next Curling

News. A good place to startworking on balance is witha “dry land” exercise todevelop and reinforce agood balanced delivery. Ifyou can’t get into and holda good, balanced positionon a dry floor, how can youexpect to do it on ice with apiece of Teflon on yourfoot?

Here is the drill: In theprivacy of your own home,stand with your feet shoul-der width apart and thentake a half-step forwardwith your slider foot, plac-ing it directly centered infront of your chest.

Next, lower your bodyby extending your non-slid-er foot directly behind yourbody, with the leg fullyextended, the top of theback foot flat on the floor,

and the sole of that footfacing skyward.

Pay special attention tothe angles of various partsof the slider foot and leg.The foot should ideally beangled out with the heelunder your sternum and thetoe pointed slightly to theleft (for a right-handedcurler). If you can’t get tothat position, at least pointthe toe straight, but defi-nitely not to the right. Theportion of your leg from theknee to your ankle shouldbe angled back toward yourhips. If it is vertical, it willraise your center of gravityand make it harder to bal-ance. If it is angled for-ward, you’ll end up doingthe splits because your slid-er will slide out away fromyour body. Also try to anglethe hip-to-knee portion ofyour leg to the left so yourknee moves toward yourleft armpit. Again, this willallow you to drop your cen-ter of gravity lower andmake it easier to balance.

Make sure that you keepyour right hand extendedahead of you – don’t use itfor balance. Ideally, youshouldn’t use your left hand

for balance, either, but it isa better alternative thanusing your right hand.After all, you don’t want tobe leaning on the stone oryou will get it moving fromside to side and messing upyour “invisible line” align-ment.

Get into this position andhold yourself there for 15-20 seconds and then gradu-

ally try to raise yourself up.Go through this up anddown cycle a few timesevery day prior to and evenduring the season. It helpsbeginning, intermediate,and even experiencedcurlers develop balance,coordination, flexibility,and leg strength.

Once you’re getting intoand staying in the propersliding position on dry land,you’ll be better prepared totake to the ice. Watch forthe next issue of theCurling News and more ondeveloping better balance.Ultimately, it will help youhit the broom more consis-tently, make more shots,win more games, and havemore fun. Until next time,good curling!

(I had a pleasant e-mailexchange with Jim from St.Paul after my recent articleconcerning the most impor-tant line on a curling sheet.He wanted to know whatadjustments could be madeto help someone whoshoots right-handed but isleft-eye dominant. Anexcellent question – and thetopic of a future article.Thanks, Jim!)

Without good balance, shotmaking will suffer

by Jon Mielke,

Capital Curling Club

R

Experiment for yourself to see if new broomcan make a difference getting to the podium

Editor’s note: The fol-

lowing article is brought to

you by BroomsUP Curling

Supplies, a proud supporter

and sponsor of USA

Curling.

id you know thatGold and SilverMedalists KevinMartin and Cheryl

Bernard were part of a“secret” experiment at theOlympic Games inVancouver? An experimentconceived and funded sev-eral years’ prior underCanada’s “Own thePodium” campaign andthrough independentresearch developed by theWorld DiscoveriesTechnology and Commer-cialization Group at theUniversity of WesternOntario.

Western’s kinesiologyand mechanical and materi-als engineering professorTom Jenkyn and OlympicLevel curling coach ScottArnold had set out on asimple mission: to find outwhat really happens whencurlers sweep a stone acrossthe ice.

Traditional thinking isthat friction produces heatand that ice melts in accor-dance with the pressure andspeed of a player’s stroke.

The abrasiveness of thecloth also factors in to helpcurlers achieve the desiredshot, either a straighter pathfor a hit, or a longer dis-tance for a draw. Usinginfrared cameras to exam-ine the effects of sweepingon a curling rink, Jenkyndiscovered that while heatwas being generated, evengreater heat transfer wouldenhance a sweeper’s per-formance by moving therock further with the sameamount of exertion.

With Jenkyn’s patenteddesign, a layer of aluminumacts as an infrared mirror sothat when heat is generatedby the friction of sweeping,the heat is transferred backonto the ice where it isneeded. Ontario-basedBalancePlus purchased theexclusive licensing rights toJenkyn’s technologicaladvancement but took itone step further.

Immediately followingthe Olympics, a concernlingered that the added heattransfer would result in flat-ter ice. Scott Taylor, VP atBalancePlus, worked incooperation with Jenkyn tomitigate this concern, com-menting “with theEQualizer® technology, wecan use a finer, smoothercloth, which makes it over-all less abrasive to the peb-ble than the standard cordu-ra fabric.”

After 10 days of intenseice use by teams from over20 countries represented atthe Worlds Senior andMixed Doubles CurlingChampionships in April, St.Paul Curling Club’s headice technician Jim Dexterclaims he “didn’t noticeanything that may have hurtour ice during the competi-tion, nothing at all that wasout of the ordinary.” At theFord World Men’s CurlingChampionship in Regina,Saskatchewan, Canada, co-ice technicians JamieBourassa and EricMontford kept a watch overthe playing surface, sayingafterward, “We haven’theard a single word of com-plaint (from the players).This has been good ice allweek.”

Is this new technologyjust for elite curlers? WayneMiddaugh, two-time worldchampion, said: “Theeffects for our team usingthe EQ® are unbelievable

... in my mind, the benefitsseem to grow for the tiersbelow the level of some ofthe world’s greatest sweep-ers, such as Kennedy,Hebert, Laing and Bailey,and is most evident forthose at the recreationallevel.” (See Table above).Patti Lank, U.S. nationalchampion, said: “The EQholds up longer, and does-n’t get flat and dirty, so it’sa great piece of equipmentfor our team, but also forthe recreational curler whoperhaps doesn’t want tochange their brush head sooften.”

Rachel Howell, vice forNew Jersey’s Langankerink that captured the 2011USA Curling Club NationalChampionships women’stitle in Mankato, Minn.,said she likes the EQ®“especially for the fabric,which offers a smoothstroking surface that movesnicely along the ice andwith less need to clean the

broom head during compe-tition.” Mackenzie Lank,lead for Team USA at the2011 Capital One WorldWomen’s CurlingChampionship in Denmark,said: “I saw a big differ-ence the very first time Iused it. I noticed it was eas-ier to sink into the icewhile I was sweeping.”

What’s next forBalancePlus? With thou-sands of EQ® brush headsin production, and anexpanded line of colorscoming this fall, the compa-ny’s founder Lino Di Ioriosays, “The proven effec-tiveness of the EQualizer®opens the door for excitingadvancements in how peo-ple sweep the rock, whichwe are currently develop-ing.”

Until then, the perform-ance of the BalancePlusEQualizer® can be judgedat the podium with teamsFenson and Lank’s U.S.national championshiptitles, Team NorthAmerica’s record-settingperformance at theContinental Cup, and gold,silver, and bronze medalstaken at the Ford WorldMen’s CurlingChampionship.

To find out more aboutthe EQualizer® BrushHead, click on www.tom-jenkynequalizer.mov andwww.BalancePlus.com.

by Megan Suslavich,

Nutmeg Curling Club

D

Jon Mielke,[email protected]

Mielke is a Level III

instructor, Level III coach

& past chairman of the

USCA’s Training &

Instruction Committee

Training Tips

From Jon



eaders who havecurling suppliesbrochures circa,late 1970s, may

wonder if the vendors willstill honor the prices of thatera, since the brochures didnot include disclaimers? Ifso, curlers should be able tobuy top of the line curlingshoes from Steve’s CurlingSupplies for $31.95, 100percent wool curlingsweaters for $49.95, and asmany Black Jack invertedstraw-corn brooms for$13.50 as a guy or gal canwear out in a season.

Steve’s predecessor,Laurie Carlson &Associates, also ofMadison, in their 1978-79season brochure, offer a“Svenska” brush that prom-ises “stiffer bristles” (nocomment) at a club price of$15.95. Carlson did not sellpower ice scrapers (rarethen) but offered a 21.5-inch wide hand scraper for$56.50. Icemakers mayhave had fewer resourcesback then, but they werestronger! Ever try to handscrape a whole sheet ortwo? This writer has, albeitdecades ago in his 20s.

The late RudgeGoodland operatedMidwest Curling Suppliesout of Portage. His son,Geoff, just skipped the U.S.senior men to a silvermedal at Worlds—thiswriter curled with Rudge,Kip and Geoff Goodland—whose voice had not yetchanged—at a 1971 ‘spielat Janesville. We each wonParker fountain pens. In hisNovember 1978 brochure,Rudge offered Ken Watsonand Ernie Richardson curl-

ing boots (yes, boots) for$34.95 and $33.95, respec-tively. A Teflon slider kitwas $5.50, then you had tospend an hour or two gluingthe Teflon to your shoe,and, if you were dumb,sometimes to the wrongshoe.

About this time, B&BCurling Specialty of GreenBay, operated by Russ andthe late Bette Kriwanek,offered 100 quality clubpins, four colors, up to 1.5inch, for $139.

Steve’s is still quiteactive, but the other firmsare no longer in business,so it looks like it’s up toSteve, or Craig, to comethrough with this great curl-ing stuff at 1979 prices.Orders are accepted only bysnail mail or telephone(there was no e-mail or faxthen), and readers must useonly a 10-cent stamp.

While on the subject ofthe past, some reallyancient curlers will recallthe Midwest Curling

Association (MCA), found-ed in 1945 and disbanded inthe early 1960s, which wasa precursor to the USCAand the several state curlingassociations (curlers love toorganize, then to criticizetheir organizations). TheMCA annual budget wasabout $3,500 in 1957. Thetwo major expenses werethe MCA bonspiel, and“stationery, printing andsupplies.” The MCA hadneat stationery with goldfoil embossing. The MCAhad more than 40 clubs asmembers, from Wisconsin,Minnesota, Illinois,Michigan and NorthDakota.

Based on old documentsentrusted to me by the late,great Woody Hodge ofMedford, an MCA officerand ‘spiel chair in the1950s: When skips enteredtheir team into a bonspiel,they wrote friendly, but for-mal letters, most oftentyped on business letter-head by a secretary! In aletter from another late,great friend, Doug Bogueof Portage, Woody isadvised: “I would like toenter a team and ask thatyou make hotel reservationsfor us ... We were so welltreated at the hotel last win-ter …You will find mycheck in the amount of$24.00(!) in payment of(our) entry fee … I can’tthink of anything I wouldrather do than meet you onthe ice and drub you good… I imagine that the feel-ing is mutual.”

In addition to Bogue,other well-known curlersentered in the 1957 MCA‘spiel included Walter

Polski and Robert Dunbar,Virginia; Walter Rhodesand Larry Leifer, Madison;Lewis Phenner, Appleton;Walter Selck,Chicago/North Shore;Howard Woodside, StevensPoint; Wendell Sacia,Galesville; Ray Pinkertonand Harold Bammel,Waupaca; Frank Kleffman,Hibbing; “Rhyme,” Portage(Frank or his dad?); “Bud”Holley, La Crosse; LeeDuncan, Bob Altman andA.L. Papenfuss, Wausau;and Glenn Harris, Ray andBud Somerville, Jack Horstand Jon Orstad, Superior(the future world championwith dad on one rink, theCurling News founder onanother); and other rinks,including Elmer Freytag,Chicago, he of the epony-mous World CurlingFreytag Award, who wroteto Woody: “Our rink … hasnow made definite arrange-ments to take the Chicago,Milwaukee and St. Paultrain, which leaves Chicagoat 1:00 p.m. on Thursday,

December 5th, and is due toarrive at Wausau at 6:50P.M.; where we will pick upa rent-a-car and drive overto Medford.” No interstatefrom Chicago to Wausauthen. But what a postalservice: one of the ‘spielentries was addressed to:“Mr. Irv Pries, Medford,WI.” With that abbreviatedaddress, the letter arrivedsafely. And for about threecents! Simpler days.

Time to resurrect former supply costs

David Garber,[email protected]

Tales From

Sheet NineR

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.”

2011-12 Championship & Playdown ScheduleOctober:

U.S. Wheelchair Team Selection

November:

Winter Youth Olympic Games Playdown2012 USA Curling Senior Men’s National Championship2012 USA Curling Senior Women’s National Championship

December:

2012 USA Curling Mixed Doubles National Championship

January:

2012 Nationals Men’s Qualifying Round2012 Continental Cup2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games2012 Nationals Men’s & Women’s Challenge Rounds2012 USA Curling Junior National Championships

February:

2012 USA Curling National ChampionshipsU.S. Senior Men’s Curling Association National Bonspiel2012 World Wheelchair Championship

March:2012 World Junior Championships2012 U.S. Club National Championships2012 Ford World Women’s Championship2012 U.S. Mixed National Championship

April:

2012 Capital One World Men’s Championship2012 World Senior Championships2012 World Mixed Doubles Championship

*accordion in nature

Dates:

10/20-10/23

11/18-11/21*11/30-12/4*12/2-12/4

*12/7-12/11

*1/4-1/81/12-1/151/13-1/221/19-1/221/28-2/4

2/11-2/182/16-2/192/18-2/25

3/3-3/113/3-3/103/17-3/253/17-3/24

3/31-4/8TBATBA

Site:

Madison, Wis.

To be announcedTo be announcedTo be announced

Site to be announced

Sites to be announcedLangley, British ColumbiaInnsbruck, AustriaSites to be announcedMadison, Wis.

Philadelphia, Penn.Wauwatosa, Wis. & Kettle Moraine, Wis.Chuncheon City, South Korea

Ostersund, SwedenSite to be announcedLethbridge, AlbertaSite to be announced

Basel, SwitzerlandTBATBA

Please note that this is a very preliminary calendar. More dates and sites will be added as information is reported to thenational office this summer. Please keep checking the event calendars on the USA Curling website at www.usacurl.org fortimely updates. A complete championship and playdown schedule will be printed in the fall 2011 issue of the Curling News.

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.

George Freeman

George Freeman, 86, formally of Saratoga andNiskayuna, N.Y., passed away at his daughter’s homeon Long Island, N.Y., on Feb. 15, 2011. Freeman wasa longtime member of the Schenectady Curling Club.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in George’sname to All Saints Episcopal Church, 855 MiddleNeck Road, Great Neck, NY.

Ian Keith

Ian George Keith, 72, Marshfield, Wis., a foundingmember of the Marshfield Curling Club, passed awayMarch 28, 2011, after a brief illness. He grew up inMadison, Wis., and earned bachelor’s and master’sdegrees from the University of Wisconsin. He wasemployed as a psychiatric social worker atMarshfield Clinic from 1969-2006 and served fouryears as a medic in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Keith wasvery active in the Marshfield Curling Club after co-founding it in 1976. He took great joy in watchingthe youth members curl with their families, as heoften stated that was why he wanted a curling club inMarshfield.

Al “Red” Olson

Allen “Doc” Olson D.D.S., 83, passed away at hishome March 29, 2011, surrounded by his family. Alwas born July 9, 1927, in Superior, Wis., the son ofLouis and Valda Stocker Olson. Introduced to curlingat a young age, Red was a stone hauler for hisfather’s curling team and traveled to bonspielsthroughout the Midwest during the late 1930s andearly 1940s. After establishing his Dental practice inHartland, Wis., Red and his wife Dorothy becameoriginal members of the Kettle Moraine Curling Clubin 1963 as well as members of the Pardeeville andPortage clubs later in life.

As a two-time Wisconsin state champion, 1982mixed & 1989 senior men’s, Red will be rememberedas much for his time on the ice as for his time off ofit, sharing stories of hunting and fishing, relivingpractical jokes, and going alone with only two trump.



Members of Team Stone Cold Curling from the Park City

Curling Club finished second at the Utah Winter Games on

March 4. Team members included (l-r) Jonathan Tward, Julian

Warton, Mark Stone and Matt Poppe.

Winners of the Waltham Mixed Bonspiel were (l-r) Ryan

Spielman, Laureen Spielman, Erica Pickett and Jason Pickett.

Winners of the Racine Mixed Bonspiel were (l-r) Shelley

Boutwell, Aaron Richards, Deb Richards and Phil Boutwell.

Winners of the Desert Ice Bonspiel were (l-r) Jenn Mason, Hal

McGrady, Larry Cook and Eric Johnson.

Winners of the Blackhawk Men’s Bonspiel were (front, l-r) Tim

Walsh, Matt Bennett, Dee Bennett and Robb Vaughn. Runners-up

were (back, l-r) Brian Woelfel, Chris Helland, Curt Wyttenbach

and Duke Goetz.

Winners of the 2010 St. Paul Ranger Bonspiel were (l-r) Mike

Schneeberger, Brad Caldwell, Rich Ruohonen and Art Ruohonen.

Winners of the 2011 St. Paul Ranger Bonspiel were (back, l-r)

John Miller, Erik Ordway, (front, l-r), Loni Strassman and Clay

Orvik.

Members of the Oklahoma Curling Club recently captured the

City of Ottawa’s Chairman’s Event. Team members included (l-r)

Ronald Conlon, Jason Jorski, Aaron Chartier and Jonathan

Havercroft. This was the first international win for the Oklahoma

Club since it was formed in 2010.

Potomac Cherry Blossom winners were (l-r) Walt Baggett, Tim

Klein, Matt Scheiner and Joe Penalla.

Caribbean

OpenThe Waterspiel took place on a

cruise ship April 24-May 1 in the watersof the Caribbean. Here are the results:Gold–Debbie McCormick (Pardeeville)and Tom Hemenway (Hollywood)Silver–Tim Irish and Leslie Degrauw(Ogden)Bronze–Ben Womack (Ogden) andLucina Tutterow (Hollywood)

The first bonspiel on a cruise ship set sail in April. The

Waterspiel medalists were (l-r) Lucinda Tutterow and Ben

Womack (bronze), Deb McCormick and Tom Hemenway (gold),

and Leslie Degrauw and Tim Irish (silver).

You’re always on the button with our unique curling gifts for home,hearth and warm room.

JeweleryDesktop Curling GamesNotepaper and Notecards

Trivets and TowelsPlaying Cards

Bumper Stickers and More

www.onthebuttongifts.com

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.

MAY 20–22

Poynette, WI OMAY 27–29

San Francisco, CA OJUNE 3–5

Great Smoky, TN OJUNE 10–12

Granite, WA OJULY 7–10

Cape Cod, MA–Summerspiel XJULY 10–13

Cape Cod, MA–Summerspiel WJULY 14–17

Cape Cod, MA–Summerspiel MGreen Bay, WI–Tailgate O

JULY 17–20

Cape Cod, MA–Summerspiel WCJULY 21–24

Capital, ND–Summerspiel OAUG. 5–7

Green Bay, WI–Senior Men’s SMKansas City, MO–BBQ OTriangle, NC–Carolina Classic O

AUG. 19–21

Fort Wayne, IN–Summerspiel OAUG. 26–28

Rice Lake, WI–Summerspiel OSEPT. 16–18

Green Bay, WI MDWenatchee, WA–Desert Rocks O

SEPT. 30–OCT. 2

North Shore, IL–NS Open OOCT. 21–23

Capital, ND–No Boundaries JChicago, IL–Windy City Open OMidland, MI–Invitational O

OCT 27–28

Kettle Moraine, WI–Fall Fling ONOV. 11–13

Belfast, ME–Maine-iac O2012

FEB. 17–19

Waltham, IL MMARCH 2–4

Waltham, IL X

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 Sept. 23.



Blackhawk

Men’sThe Blackhawk Last Chance took

place March 25-27 in Janesville, Wis.Here are the results:1EW—Waltham: Robb Vaughn, DeeBennett, Matt Bennett, Tim Walsh 1ERU—Alpine: Duke Goetz, CurtWyttenbach, Chris Helland , BrianWoelfel2EW—Alpine: Scott Wild, MikeHolmes, Steve Johnson, Mike Haldiman2ERU—Wauwatosa: Tom Rave, AdamBerghammer, Carl Deutsch, Joe Corrao3EW—Madison: Chuck Bassford, BillSwanson, Craig Cullum, Don Rottscheit3ERU—Shady Thicket: ScottMatchette, Dan Mitchell, Joe Herm,Mike Trotta4EW—Eau Claire: Chris McMahon,Henry McMahon, Frank McMahon,Kurt Erstad4ERU—Racine: Jim Mataczynski, Nate

Hazen, Dennis Ewards, Jim Bonton

Chisholm

JuniorThe Serrano Memorial Junior

Bonspiel took place March 12-13 at theChisholm Curling Club. Here are theresults:

Competitive Division

1EW—Hibbing: Stephen Taylor, TaylorSkalsky, Miranda Solem, ChelseaSolem1ERU—Hibbing: Zach Lind, GabyCurry, Cody Hallan2EW—Hibbing: Keke Sirjord, PhilipRebrovich, Maggie Furlong, RebeccaRebrovich2ERU—Curl Mesabi: Warren Ross,Brandon Hietala, John Martinson, WadeRoss

Beginners Division:

1EW—Hibbing: Ashley Gordon, KaylaOwens, Caitlyn Elsner1ERU—Chisholm: Caleb Smilanich,Jake Giermann, Jonah Giermann, DylanClanni2EW—Grand Rapids: Jennie Kampa,Evan David, Stewart Savela, LaceyMeyer-Nichols2ERU—Curl Mesabi: Sydney Patrow,Austin Harvey, Paige Maki, BryceWainio3EW—Hibbing: Matt Rice, JustinBarrett, Jacob Berklich3ERU—Chisholm: Laney Ryan, JustinPioske, Nick Jordan, Ryan Rice

Eau Claire

Men’sThe Eau Claire Leinenkugel's

Bonspiel took place Jan. 7-9 in EauClaire, Wis. Here are the results:1EW—Eau Claire: Cory Ward, MikePeplinski, Ron Parks, Doug Anderson1ERU—Green Bay: Jeff Parish, PaulHanke, Charlie Brown, Jeff Thompson2EW—Duluth: John Landsteiner, TyVietanen, Matt Collom, Robert Splinter2ERU—Superior: Irv Mossberger Jr.,Bob Blair, Doug Runnoe, Chris Bode3EW—Eau Claire: Debbie McCormick,Matt Bauer, John Bast IV, Tom Bauer3ERU—Eau Claire: Jim Beirne, DaveCoon, Doug Kunick, Len Vetsch4EW—St. Paul: Dan Metcalf, ScottClasen, Fancy Ray, Scott Belvitch4ERU—St. Paul: John Anderson, BrettCarpenter, Dave Wilson, Rick Pohlman

Green Bay

Women’sThe Green Bay Shamrock Women’s

Invitational took place March 11-13 atthe Green Bay (Wis.) Curling Club.Here are the results:1EW—Madison: Lori Mountford,Juliana Klocek, Tracy Opicka, MirandaHofmann1ERU—Milwaukee: Lisa Graff, LindaEven, Nikki Bernetich, Kate Wolter2EW—Wausau: Terri Fisher, LisaLandon, Tiffany Reilly, Andrea Schafer2ERU—Racine: Barb Vanderleest, GailArmstrong, Denise Knudsen, MandiKais3EW—Wausau: Marcia Tillish, SusanSandquist, Jennie Moran, Katie Lila3ERU—Wauwatosa: Andrea Mueller,Melva Sabatke, Pam McCreary, AnnHglietko4EW—Medford: Sandi Brost, SaraBrost, Tracy Hraby, Connie Rig4ERU—Kettle Moraine: Michele

Heinze, Carol Stevenson, TeresaThomas, Ali Bedboughro

Schenectady

Men’sThe 139th Gordon Emmett GNCC

Championship took place on March 11-12 at the Schenectady Curling Club inSchenectady, N.Y. Here are the results:1EW—Broomstones: Bryan Fink, EricPaul, Paul Marseglia, Sam Chandler1ERU—Schenectady 3: Mike Stefanik,Brian Damon, Art Merkley, Jeff Muha2EW—Schenectady 5: Andy Dicke,Brad Austin, Todd Tolliver, Tom Falcon2ERU—Schenectady 6: Vic Temple,Dan Navratil, Fred Mackintosh, KenRice3EW—Schenectady 4: Dennis Quinn,Marek Rzonca, Dave Hooper, LouHorton3ERU—Albany 2: Al Campisano, GregFoster, Nicholas Fahrenkopf, JimMerrihew4EW—Schenectady 1: Dean Wadland,Jack Stopera, Matt Daly, Jim Sinkins4ERU—Schenectady 2: Dan Machold,Charlie Brown, Richard Gonyeau, ScottBrennan

Nashua

Men’sThe Granite State Men’s Bonspiel

took place March 3-6 in Nashua, N.H.Here are the results:1EW—Granite: Peter Lyons, NateClark, Ben Clark, Chris DuPre’1ERU—Broomstones 1: RobbyMelville, Mike Rosa, Scott Olson, JeffMarchand2EW—Canadian Club of Boston: PaulSofoulis, Dan Dacey, Dan Naylor, RickPurdy2ERU—Petersham: John Griffiths,Chuck Hartwell, Alan Witkorski,Andrew Charbonneau3EW—Boston: Sam Williams, AndyMcKellips, Rich Collier, Todd Hebert3ERU—Nashua 5: Al Doucet, BruceDenner, Rob Clemens, Jack Collins4EW—Belfast 1: Jeff Dutch, TerryFancy, Joe Baiungo, Paul Deeney4ERU—Cape Cod 1: Russ Lemke, GlenAmaral, John McCarthy, Frank Balas

International Falls

OpenThe 18th annual Icebox Days open

Bonspiel took place Jan. 14-16 at theFort Frances Curling Club in Ontario,which houses the International Falls(Minn.) Curling Club. Here are theresults:1EW—Fort Frances: Ken Jackson,Keith Tibbetts, Kerry Jackson, RonCambell1ERU—International Falls: Tom Mayer,Dave Johnson, Dave Evans, RodneyKupsc2EW—Fort Frances: Eric Kaufman,Nettie Kaufman, Gary Saurer, SylviaSmeeth2ERU—Fort Frances: Kathie Jackson,Lorne Jackson, Rory Ellingson, KellyEllingson3EW—Fort Frances: Graham Matheson,Moe Fillion, Chris Matheson, KevinSchultz3ERU—Fort Frances: Everett Jackson,Maureen Thomson, Jim Jackson,Maureen Jackson4EW—Fort Frances: Allan Holt, BrianAngus, John Bagacki, Loreen Holt4ERU—Fort Frances: Rich Peri, ChrisHill, Dave Black, Shane Becket

Petersham

MixedThe Petersham Spring Fling

Mixed/Open Bonspiel took place March24-27 in Petersham, Mass. Here are theresults:1EW—Broomstones II: Pete Rossetti,Nikki Rossetti, Dan Naylor, TamiGouveia1ERU—Border I: Jon Kuniholm, NicoleVassar, Sam Williams, Russell Frank2EW—Petersham I: Paul Breault, AlizaBreault, Eric Sorelle, Norm LaFlash2ERU—Nutmeg: Frank Aulenti,Kristina Neuser, Merlyn Glodek, JaclynOtterspoor3EW—Border II: Louise Retchless,Bruce Amsden, Paul Bosco, Lis Hughs3ERU—Border III: Maitland Warner,Joyce Shee, Kevin Shee, Bev Warner

4EW—Petersham II: John Griffiths,Faith Griffiths, Alan Wiktorski, KatieWiktorski4ERU—Broomstones/Lake Placid: RichCollier, Amber McKernan, TomMcKernan, Brooke Collier

Stevens Point

MixedThe Stevens Point Mixed Bonspiel

took place April 1-3. Here are theresults:1EW—Blackhawk: James Krutilla, SueBlizzard, Fred Blizzard, PaulineKrutilla 1ERU—Madison: Lori Karst, SteveDay, Dawn Nonn, Dan Wiza2EW—Waupaca: Jason Smith, Kristine

Smith, Milke Knoeck, Renee Knoeck2ERU—St. Paul: Bob Reichenbach,

Jean McCann, Harold Anderson, GailAnderson3EW—Green Bay: Adam Olson, Sara

Kreager, Cameron Purcell, AmyHopkins3ERU—Stevens Point: Tom Okray,

Rose Grych, Brian Johnson, KimZivicki4EW—Madison: Katie Bland, Mark

Mehler, Becky Mehler, Erik Nielsen4ERU—Marshfield: Clarence Topp,

Patt Topp, Paul Logan, Jessica Logan

Potomac

OpenThe Potomac Cherry Blossom

Bonspiel took place in Laurel, Md., onMarch 24-27. Here are the results: 1EW—Ardsley II: Walt Baggett, TimKlein, Matt Scheiner, Joe Penalla1ERU—Potomac: II: Dawn Findlay,Bob Pelletier, Barb Shirk, Judy Gilbert2EW—Columbus: John Besch, FrankMayer, Eric Johnson, John Jackson2ERU—Schenectady: Dan Machold,Charles Brown, Bill MacDonald, DavidBykowski3EW—Ardsley I: John Noble, JeffKlein, David Wagenheim, Andy Eaton,Joyance Meechai3ERU—Nutmeg: Michael Nordquist,Patrick Rabenold, Wendy Clement,Amy Hobbie4EW—Potomac: George Shirk, D.Baxter, Brian Parsons, KC McGrath4ERU—Potomac III: Rachel Sethi,Jason Sethi, Anne Hewitt, DavidBurnham

Arlington

Senior MenThe 10th annual Arlington Senior

Men’s Bonspiel took place March 25-26at the Arlington and Poynette clubs.Here are the results:1EW–Madison: Stan Vinge, PaulMatzke, Joe Weber, Rob Wixson1ERU–Arlington: Bill Monteufel,Bernie Dushek, Art Woodward, DonThurston2EW–Wausau: Steve Sirianni, TomWood, Pete Neitzel, Shane Ley2ERU–Arlington: Dan Deeren, TimPaige, Larry Manthe, Mark Gieger3EW–Madison: Steve O’Connor, DougMcIvor, Tony Perma, Al Hafeman3ERU–Poynette: Mark Kretzman, TimLarson, Vern Herr, Dennis Sampolinski4EW–Poynette: Dean Teeter, JonVaningan, Jerry Trumm, TerryThompson4ERU–Arlington: Marv Manke, MarvPlenty, Mike Halverson, John Stevenson5EW–Poynette: Peter Caldwell, AndyRoss, John Reddeman, George Melby5ERU–Waupaca: Jeff Martin, KellyTaylor, Dennis Girard, Elmer Kiel

Kettle Moraine

Men’sThe 46th Annual Kettle Moraine

Invitational Men's Bonspiel was heldMarch 18-20. Here are the results:1EW—Waltham: Robb Vaughn, WillVaughn, Lance Yednock, Nate Beer. 1ERU—Madison: Steve O'Connor rink 2EW—St. Paul: Keith Ostrosky rink2ERU—St. Paul: Jeff Henning rink3EW—St. Paul: Greg Walsh rink3ERU—Wauwatosa: John Dunlop rink4EW—Chicago: Dick Urevig rink4ERU—Alpine: Steve FlanaganLame Duck—Kettle Moraine: JeffMaier rinkLame Duck runner-up—St. Paul: MikeBromberg rink

Waltham

MixedThe 2011 Waltham Mixed Mexican

Fiesta Bonspiel was held on March 4-6in Triumph, Ill. Here are the results:1EW—Blackhawk: Ryan Spielman,Laureen Spielman, Jason Pickett, EricaPickett1ERU—Chicago: Julie Denten, PeteCarmichael, Susan Bennett, DarrenBeach2EW—Alpine: Steve Flanagan, KayleeDeadmond, Mike Liebundgut, Shelly

Liebundgut2ERU—Pardeeville: Randy Branton,Lisa Wendt, Doug Hare, Diane Kiefer3EW—Chicago: John Reid, GailArmstrong, Dave Bemus, Liz Reid3ERU—Kettle Moraine: Jim Buege,Millie Buege, Andy Rampolla, BarbRampolla4EW—Madison: Pete McCormick,Shelly Kosal, Thud Kosal, JudithCantlin Ho4ERU—Chicago: Doug Boyd,Stephanie Martin, Tim Orisek, JennyHouk

Winners of the Curl Mesabi Senior Men’s Bonspiel (and showing

off their “power sweepers”) were (l-r) Don Lemmerman, Robert

Johnson, Robert Britton and Steve Moeller.

Winners of Eau Claire’s Leinenkugel Open Bonspiel were (l-r)

Doug Anderson, Ron Parks, Mike Peplinski and Cory Ward.

Winners of the 139th Gordon Emmett GNCC Championship held

in Schenectady, N.Y., were (l-r) Bryan Fink, Eric Paul, Paul

Marseglia and Sam Chandler.

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

Stan Vinge, Paul Matzke, Joe Weber and Rob Wixson. Runners-

up were (back, l-r) Bill Monteufel, Bernie Dushek, Art Woodward

and Don Thurston.



Winners of the Empire State Bonspiel were (l-r) Charrissa Lin,

Anne Stuhlman, Elly Bockley and Phelicia Howland.

Men’s Division winners of the Fairbanks Curling Club’s 76th

International Bonspiel held March 31-April 3 in Fairbanks,

Alaska, were (l-r) Matt Birklid, Steven Birklid, Colin Hufman,

Chris Benshoof and Atticus Wallace.

Women’s Division winners of the Fairbanks Curling Club's 76th

International Bonspiel held March 31-April 3 in Fairbanks,

Alaska, were (l-r) Erika Taylor, Joanne Hufman, Kaye Hufman,

Lacy Birklid and Vicky Persinger.

Green Bay Shamrock Invitational winners were (front, l-r)

Miranda Hofmann, Tracy Opicka, Juliana Klocek and Lori

Mountford. Runners-up were (standing, l-r) Kate Wolter, Nikki

Bernetich, Linda Even and Lisa Graff.

The House of HeartsCelebrity Bonspiel raisedmore than $27,000 for St.Luke’s Foundation. The eventtook place at the DuluthCurling Club on March 24-26.

Money was raised throughentry fees, pledges/donations,a silent and live auction anddonations with a chance towin, among other fund-raisers.

Money raised at this year’sevent will be used by St.Luke’s Foundation to support:1) St. Luke’s Infusion TherapyClinic Pharmacy. This willcontinue to ensure patientsreceive the best care duringone of the most vulnerableperiods of their lives, and 2) St. Luke’sCardiac Rehab department’s telemetryprogram, which monitors heart patientswhile guiding them to recovery.

This uniquely-formatted eventbrought in 24 celebrity curlers/skipswith a variety of U.S., Canadian,European and world curling experience.Here are the results:“A” Event – Chelsea Carey (Winnipeg,

Manitoba) over Madeleine DuPont(Copenhagen, Denmark)“B” Event – Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.)over John Shuster (Duluth, Minn.)“C” Event – Craig Brown (Madison,Wis.) over Ann Swisshelm (Chicago,Ill.)“D-Ranger” Event champion – FrankMcCourt (Mississauga, Ontario) “D-Ranger” Event Ultimate Loser –Jillian Mouzar (Toronto, Ontario)

Centerville

Senior Men’sThe Centerville Senior Men’s

Bonspiel took place March 11-13 inCenterville, Wis. Here are the results:1EW—Centerville: Bob Hanson, DanSkaar, Mike Oslie, Lon Truax1ERU—Centerville/St. Paul: MikeFederspiel, Guy Griesmann, Tom Kari,Rob Hawkins2EW—Centerville: Jim Hilton, LarryAdams, Mike Hilton, Bruce Lehman2ERU—Centerville/Willmar: LeRoyHovell, Earl Kopp, Kevin Madsen,Mark Ne 3EW—Centerville: LeRoy Anderson,Chad Anderson, Kerry Anderson, BruceBrenengen3ERU—St. Paul: Mike Floerchinger,Pat Sherer, Merlin Eddy, DuaneHerberg4EW—Centerville: Randy Van Vleet,Ron Van Vleet, Ken Johnson, SteveJohnson4ERU—Centerville: Jim Wiffler, ChipBacklund, John Trussoni, KoreyKinstler

Ardsley

Women’sThe Empire State Bonspiel took

place Jan. 20-23 at the Ardsley CurlingClub in Ardsley-on-Hudson, N.Y. Hereare the results:1EW—Nutmeg 3: Charrissa Lin, AnneStuhlman, Elly Bockley, PheliciaHowland1ERU—Nutmeg 2: Diane Muldowney,Karen Shane, Heide Follin, SabrinaKeillor2EW—Montreal West: Elaine de Ryk,Nancy Sage, Nancy Wurth, SarahMarchand2ERU—Ardsley 1: Sandy Gaffner,Alice Yeh, Michelle Schleibaum,Melissa Dominguez3EW—Oakville 2: Gail Cosman, LaurieThompson, Chelsea Allen, LouiseWilson3ERU—New York Caledonian: RobinGestring, Catie MacKinley, JoyanceMeechai, Kim Nawyn4EW—Oakville 1: Doris Bitz, AnnDondlinger, Cheryl Van Der Kroon,4ERU—Kayuta Lake: Karen Rogowski,

Heather Swiercz, Julie Chanatry, MJWalsh5EW—Philadelphia: Leslie Dudt,Theresa Seiverd, Tina MacKinley,Maggie McMahon5ERU—Mayflower Wicks: AdineBoutilier, Laureen Paul, CarolynDownie, Ann MacMillan

Racine

MixedThe Racine Curling Club in Racine,

Wis., held its 2011 Mixed Invitationalon Feb. 11-13. Here are the results:1EW—Blackhawk: Aaron Richards,Deb Richards, Phil Boutwell, ShelleyBoutwell1ERU—Kettle Moraine: John Geason,Stella Geason, Jeff Nelson, CareyNelson2EW—Kettle Moraine: Jerry Helding,Mary Rasmussen, Herb Rasmussen,Chris Helding2ERU—Milwaukee: Dick Barnes,Roanne Barnes, Steve Inman, DebbieInman3EW—Milwaukee: Tom Towers, LisaJanecky, Mike Moll, Pat Towers3ERU—Racine: Gary Sondergaard,Lisa Johnson, Jim Mataczynski, TamTrutwin4EW—Racine: Leigh Olson, BarbVanderleest, Tom Pieske, Paula Kalke4ERU—Blackhawk: Robbie Hall, JanWolter, Dave Wolter, Pati Shea

Curl Mesabi

Men’sThe Curl Mesabi Springspiel was

held March 18-19 in Eveleth, Minn.Here are the results:1EW—St.Paul: Geoff Goodland, TimSolin, Pete Westberg, Ken Olson1ERU—Curl Mesabi: DennisJorgensen, Rory Malner, Walt Rockstad,Rich Kinnunen2EW—Curl Mesabi: LonnieGulbranson, John Pearsall, Wally Herar,Scott Love2ERU—Superior: Mike O’Brien, BrianBergquist, Paul Omberg, Joe Martin3EW—Curl Mesabi: Ross Harvey,Craig Wainio, Corey Heitzman, MarkMikulich3ERU—Curl Mesabi: Tim Drobnick,

Jim Wainio, Jim Newman, Larry Hall4EW—Elmood (Winnipeg): RussBevan, Bobby Stewart, James Dooks,Evan Asham4ERU—Curl Mesabi: John Kuitunen,Bob Pontinen, Dan Englund, ChrisLintula

St. Paul

StickThe First Stick Bonspiel took place

Nov. 3 at the St. Paul Curling Club.Here are the results:1EW–Detroit Lakes: Ron Windloss,Mike Nustad1ERU–St. Paul: Loren Holmstrom, ArtJytyla2EW–St. Paul: Al Sunnarborg, FredBannister, Bud Berry2ERU–Grand Marais: Jim King, TomFredeen3EW–St. Paul: Jeff Hogden, TerryWilson3ERU–St. Paul: Mary Jane Krantz,Barbara Holmstrom4EW–St. Paul: Bob Golder, BobFlammang4ERU–St. Paul: Alex Wainberg, ChrisThompson

Wauwatosa

Men’sThe 70th annual Wauwatosa Men’s

Invitational took place March 11-13 inWauwatosa, Wis. Here are the results: 1EW—Winona Yacht & Gun Club:Dave Brown, Dan Brown, Mark Brown,Thom Kieffer1ERU—Wauwatosa: Rob Hipke, TimTorgerson, Jim Matthews, SteveWycklendt2EW—St. Paul: Kraig Ketola, PeterMuller, Don Hutchinson, Tom Havas2ERU—Madison: Bill Buckingham,Mark Tyler, Jon Crumm, BillBuckingham Sr.3EW—Milwaukee: Chuck Severson,Nate Gebert, Jim Rasche, Bob Unkel3ERU—Kettle Moraine: Smily Gebert,Tom Munich, Rick Baldry, WalterKirchoff4EW—Kettle Moraine: Dave Lewis,Jeff Moylan, Pat Zawada, MarkBlackman4ERU—Kettle Moraine: Jeff Neff, LeeSchulz, Brandon Esser, Beau Moore

Winners of the 2011 Curl Mesabi Springspiel were (l-r) Geoff

Goodland, Tim Solin, Pete Westberg and Ken Olson.

10th annual House of HeartsCelebrity Bonspiel raises $27,000

for St. Luke’s Foundation

Winners of the House of Hearts Celebrity Bonspiel

were (l-r) Jason Kraus, Matt Carlson, Bridgette

Perrizo and Chelsea Carey.

hird column andI’m still here …tucked into theback pages … prat-

tling on and on about thegame I used to play andstill love so very much. Iguess the complaints to mydictatorial editor have beentoo few and too meek sofar. We’ll see what thefuture holds as my inabilityto keep my opinions tomyself and my inability tohide my humor invade mytyping.

One of the things that Ialways loved about curlingis that it is a “gentleman’sgame.” While the term issexist and dated, it’s theonly term that has beenhanded down to me … sowe’ll use it for today so thatwe all know what we’retalking about. It is a gamethat is not dependent onumpires and referees. It is agame where your characterand your honor factor intothe outcome. It’s alwaysbeen that way and, hopeful-ly, always will be that way.Unfortunately, I’m seeing alittle less of it as the yearsgo by.

It is my belief that weare seeing less honorableplay not because today’splayers are less honorable,but because they are taughtless in regards to traditions.Let me be very clear onthis: I don’t blame the new-bies…I blame the instruc-tors, skips and more experi-enced players. It is notenough to teach a new play-er a balanced slide and adecent release. It is notenough to teach them aboutstarting and ending thegame with a handshake. AGentleman’s Game requiresmuch more.

OK, I have alreadygrown weary of the datedGentleman’s Game. I amnow switching it to AnHonorable Game.

An Honorable Gamebegins before the first hand-shake. It begins by havingthe respect to show up ontime. I used to be one ofthose people who werealways 10 minutes late.Not because I was thatbusy, but because I hatedsitting around and waitingfor the late people. Onetime I was late to play thecolorful John Aasand whobluntly told me how rude Iwas behaving. He wasright. I was never late againwithout a decent reason.

An Honorable Gamedoes not end with the finalhandshake. The tradition isthat the winners buy sometype of refreshment for thelosers. Of all of the tradi-tions, this is the one that Ihate to see slip away. I real-ize, however, that it cannotalways be followed. What

can be followed, however,is extending good sports-manship off the ice. I’veseen leagues ruined bycliques that form and clubsfail to grow because newcurlers aren’t made to feelwelcome. I’ve seen somereally terrible behaviorfrom some cliques inWomen’s Leagues. I’m justgoing to let that sexist com-ment dangle out there andprice a Kevlar jacket.

In between handshakes,An Honorable Game is justa matter of letting newcurlers know what isfrowned upon and holdingyour own team to thosestandards. You should neverdistract the oppositionwhen it is their turn toshoot. You should bebetween the hoglines orbehind the hack and verystill. If you are behind theirskip, your broom shouldnot be on the ice. Yelling“Noonan!” as someoneputts was funny inCaddyshack, but it is nothonorable.

When your team isthrowing, you should beready. Slow play is neededby newer curlers and newskips, but not being readywhen it’s your turn is justrude. Speaking of slow play… if your team is alwaysthe last to finish, considerthat you are ruining thegame for the opposition,and ruining one of the bestgames in history is justplain wrong. Some seniorrinks are really slow andthey should know better.Some rinks are blessed withplayers that love the strate-gic parts of the game andthat can slow down thegame. Figure out how toenjoy your game while notruining it for the teams thatcurl the late draw on thatsheet.

Cell phones are a toughone. Some people do haveresponsibilities that make itnecessary for them to carrycell phones on the ice. Iwould hope that they wouldbe on vibrate and that only

important calls getanswered. Handprintsaround the hoglines are aneasy one. Don’t do it. Ifyour teammate is absent-mindedly making hand-prints, help out your team-mate.

So I put most of that oninstructors, experiencedplayers and skips. This iswhat I put upon the shoul-ders of new curlers: Don’trespond to complaintsabout etiquette by assumingthat the person complainingis just a whiny jerk. Theyare not. There is a rightway to play this game fromhandshakes to burnedstones to sharing somerefreshment afterwards.Learn the traditions of aGentleman’s Game andplay it with honor. It addsso very much.

For The Good of theGame: I continue to bethrilled by reading throughthe Bonspiel Results in TheU.S. Curling News. TheLast Chance in Hibbing hadyouth and talent and someof the nicest guys in thegame. Some ’spiels havewinners with a father and ason playing together. Somehave old curlers still show-ing they “got it” and somehave scary young talentwinning. Get out on theroad, people. A couple offun ’spiels and you willhave a lifelong addiction. Inthe next column I’ll be urg-ing teams to get toWinnipeg for the upcomingMCA Bonspiel as they cel-ebrate 125 years of thelargest ’spiel on the planet.From the grass roots all theway up to the Olympics,let’s do what we can tokeep this sport healthy.

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]).



Take etiquette seriously

By Ben [email protected]

Tucked in the

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Winners of the Granite State Bonspiel were (l-r) Peter Lyons,

Nate Clark, Ben Clark and Chris DuPre’.

Winners of the Stevens Point Mixed Bonspiel were (front, l-r)

Pauline Krutilla, Fred Blizzard, Sue Blizzard and James Krutilla.

Runners-up were (back, l-r) Dan Wiza, Dawn Nonn, Steve Day

and Lori Karst.

Winners of the Kettle Moraine Men’s Bonspiel were Nate Beer,

Lance Yednock, Will Vaughn and Robb Vaughn.

Winners of the Duluth International Bonspiel were (l-r) Scott

Scheirbek, Mike Calubaugh, Sam Perrella and Ross Litman.

The winners of the 100th Utica Mitchell Men’s Bonspiel (2011)

were (l-r) Sean Burchesky, Kyle Burchesky, Joe Giovannone and

Doug Burchesky.



2011 World Mixed Doubles

Championship

April 16-23, St. Paul, Minn.

Round Robin

Group A:

Switzerland 7-0Russia 5-2Denmark 4-3Canada 4-3Slovakia 4-3Norway 2-5England 1-6Italy 1-6

Group B:

Sweden 6-1Japan 5-2Finland 4-3Hungary 4-3New Zealand 3-4Australia 3-4Estonia 2-5Korea 1-6

Group C:

France 6-1USA 5-2China 5-2Spain 4-3Czech Republic 4-3Scotland 3-4Austria 1-6Latvia 0-7

Tiebreaker Round 1:

*Finland 203 100 201 – 9Hungary 020 031 020 – 8

*Canada 211 030 00 – 7Slovakia 000 201 1x – 4

Tiebreaker Round 2:

China 202 002 12 – 9*Finland 010 210 00 – 4

*Denmark 201 120 0x – 6Canada 020 001 1x – 4

Quarterfinals:

China 000 012 0x – 3*Sweden 211 200 3x – 9

Japan 201 010 1x – 5*Russia 020 204 0x – 8

*Denmark 032 020 02 – 9Switzerland 200 203 30 – 10

*USA 120 030 00 – 6France 002 202 11 – 8

Semifinal:*Sweden 200 401 000 – 7Russia 011 020 122 – 9

Switzerland 111 004 1x – 8*France 000 210 0x – 3

Bronze-Medal Game:

France 110 110 40 – 8*Sweden 001 003 02 – 6

Gold-Medal Game:

Switzerland 503 120 xx – 11*Russia 010 001 xx – 2

USA round robin results:USA 8, Spain 3Scotland 8, USA 7USA 10, Austria 3France 6, USA 5USA 10, Czech Republic 4USA 10, Latvia 4USA 8, China 4

Most World Mixed Doubles


3 – Switzerland1 – Russia


World Mixed Doubles


3 – Switzerland (3 gold)2 – Russia (1 gold, 1 silver)1 – New Zealand (1 silver), Finland(1 silver), Hungary (1 silver), France(1 bronze), China (1 bronze), Canada(1 bronze), Sweden (1 bronze)

Clarks aid USA’s first playoff appearance

SA made its first appear-ance in the playoffs of theWorld Mixed DoublesChampionship as

Americans Brady Clark and CristinClark advanced to the quarterfinals ofthe 2011 World Mixed DoublesChampionship in April in St. Paul,Minn.

Unfortunately, the Granite CurlingClub duo were knocked out of theplayoffs by France, 8-6. France wenton to earn the bronze medal.

“I think we did pretty well andonce again it’s more experience,”Cristin Clark said after the loss.“We’ll try again next year and takesome learning experience from thisgame. It’s just unfortunate.” This isthe best USA finish since the eventbegan in 2008. The Clarks alsoimproved on their performance fromtwo years earlier when they finished18th overall.

It was the end of a productive weekfor the Clarks, who battled throughthe round robin and won their finalthree matches to earn a playoff spotwith a 5-2 record. The Clarks, whohave won eight U.S. mixed nationaltitles together, wish they could takeback a game decision in the fourthend in the playoff game againstFrance’s Amaury Pernette and PaulineJeanneret when they went for a lowerpercentage shot with a big reward thatbackfired and swung the game inFrance’s direction. The U.S. tried atricky in-off with the hammer thatresulted in them removing their shotstone and France stealing two.

“We talked about pro side all week.You gotta make shots on the pro side.

The fourth end was a killer. Take onethere and we’re up 5-3 and instead wego down 4-3,” Brady Clark said.

The U.S. had one in scoring posi-tion and could have played an angletap for two points instead. “I wasn’t100 percent sure that we’d be secondcount. Looking back now, I wouldhave played that shot,” Brady Clarksaid.

The U.S. bounced back with threein the fifth end as Cristin Clark madeevery shot in that end. Franceanswered with two in the sixth asJeanneret’s soft-weight tap-backmoved the French stone into secondposition to tie the game 6-6. Drawingfor two points in the seventh, BradyClark was a tad heavy with his finaldraw and nudged his shot rock out ofscoring position and France had a 7-6lead.

In the final end, the Clarks wereunable to get rid of the stationaryFrance rock that started the end on thebutton behind the center guard. BradyClark used his final stone to attempt arunback to chip it out but couldn’tconvert.

“I thought I threw it really well, butI threw it pretty hard and it stayedstraight like it does with big weight,”he said. “They waited for us to makemistakes, and I made those mistakes.I’ll take the blame on that one, forsure.”

The U.S. mixed doubles team fin-ishes the week with a 5-3 record.

“In the fourth end I played a reallydifficult shot that I’m not 100 percentsure was there for maybe four, andwe’re sitting one, I knock us out ofshot and give them two. It’s notideal,” Brady Clark said. “I’m draw-ing for two points in the seventh end,and I bump us out and give them one,

so those were the tide-turners becauseif I make those shots or even justthrow my rock away, we win thatgame.”

Switzerland went on to capture thegold with an 11-2 win over Russia.

by Terry Kolesar,

Editor

Paula Bloom, Jean Otto and John West from the Broadmoor Curling Club provided adaptive curling instruction to 44

veterans at the 25th National Disabled Veteran’s Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo., March 28-April 1.

The clinic, known as “Miracles on a Mountainside,” is jointly sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Department (VA)

and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and uses recreation as a rehabilitative tool for veterans with disabilities

ranging from spinal cord injuries and orthopedic amputations to visual impairment and neurological conditions.

During the five-day clinic, veterans were introduced to adaptive forms of popular winter sports such as alpine and

cross country skiing, curling, snowmobiling, sled hockey, rock climbing, and trapshooting.

This is the fifth year the Broadmoor Curling Club has been invited by DAV to provide adaptive curling instruction to

ambulatory and wheelchair vets at the event. They have worked with 247 veterans since 2007.

Submitted photo

Broadmoor Curling Club supportsvets at 25th Winter Sports Clinic

U

USA’s husband-wife duo of Cristin Clark

and Brady Clark finished seventh at the

2011 World Mixed Doubles Championship

as they made USA’s first-ever playoff

appearance at this event.


See you next season! Thisis the final edition of theCurling News for the 2010-11 season. The first issue of2011-12 will be publishedin late September. Have agreat summer!

– Editor

Documents

May edition of U.S. Curling News