June 26th 2015 Edition

What happened this week:

• FY16 USCA Budget Advisory Group met in Madison, Wis.,Friday-Saturday, and will meet again by teleconference July 8. The budgeting is a staff-driven process, as it has been for several years now, with the Advisory Group providing input, challenging assumptions, and helping to ensure the budget is aligned with the USCA’s strategic plan. Advisory Group members include Sean Silver, Scott Stevinson, Craig Brown, Rich Lepping, Vic Huebner and Leland Rich. Staff at the meeting in addition to me included Sandy Robinson, Tom Doherty, Kim Nawyn and Derek Brown.
• USCA CEO Transition Task Force met Sunday-Monday in Madison. The Task Force members include Rich Lepping, Allison Pottinger, Doug Pottinger, Beau Welling, Leland Rich, Jennifer Stannard and Hawley MacLean.
• National Olympic Day was celebrated on June 23, and many curling clubs around the country participated either on this day or other days leading up to it. Vernon Davis also tweeted a special shout-out to curling.
• USCA ice technician Shawn Olesen is participating in the World Curling Federation ice making course in Fussen, Germany.
• We had another call with DOW Chemical Company representatives on Monday as partnership discussions continue. Pilot projects with at least two USCA member curling clubs are being considered as we work to formalize the deal points of a partnership.
• Additional information requests were fulfilled for an agency seeking to find an Olympic winter sport partner for a company in the healthcare industry.
• USCA Growth & Development Director Kim Nawyn is assisting World Curling Federation (WCF) Development Officer Darrell Ell in facilitating the Business of Curling Symposium – a WCF sponsored program – that is being held this weekend at the Evergreen Curling Club in Beaverton, Ore. There are 23 participants representing 13 different USCA member clubs.
• AAC Chairman Allison Pottinger has circulated a first draft on new athlete uniform sponsor cresting rules, and USCA CEO Rick Patzke is in the process of reviewing and responding to this.
• All Athlete Combine reports were completed by the High Performance Program (HPP) staff and sent to the athletes who participated but were not ultimately invited into the HPP for 2015-16. These reports include:
  • Sweeping/Smartbroom report – Peels/adjusted release – score and overall ranking against the field
  • Technical accuracy – high, low, median and average scores with a video link to individual combine footage
  • Fitness – with comments attached
  • Strategy – consistency under time pressure and with coaches’ “consensus”
• Tickets are on sale now for the 2016 USA Curling National Championships in Jacksonville, Fla.
• USCA CEO Rick Patzke will be speaking later today with the WCF regarding potential support for Curling Night in American programming in 2016.

What’s up next week:

• Development Associate Christy Hering is scheduling the first Arena Curling Championships Committee review (by teleconference) of the bids received to host the 2016 championships.
• USCA CEO Rick Patzke has a call scheduled for Monday with Curling Canada and the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition to discuss items related to the 2016 Continental Cup of Curling in Las Vegas.
• High Performance Program Director Derek Brown and HPP Coaches Ann Swisshelm and Phill Drobnick will be participating in The Sport Performance Summit in New York City June 30 – July 1.
• The monthly ACES (Association of Chief Executives in Sport) teleconference is set for July 1.

What’s coming two weeks from now (July 5-11):

• USCA Budget Advisory Group Teleconference, July 8.
• Quarterly marketing reports for U.S. Olympic Committee partners Hilton and United are due July 8.
• A USCA Level II ice technician course takes place at the Capital Curling Club in Bismarck, N.D., July 11-12. There are still some spots available for those interested in attending.
• The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant national promotion featuring curling continues into mid-July. The promo includes highlights from “Curling Night in America” as well as facts and trivia about curling.