August 5, 2016 Edition

Dear USCA Member Regions and Curling Clubs,

Here is the next edition of USCA Tapas for your information and sharing with your membership.

Rick

What happened in the previous two weeks:

• The Milwaukee (Wis.) Curling Club has been awarded the hosting of the inaugural USA Curling U18 National Championships, while the Bucks County Curling Club in Warminster, Penn., has been awarded the hosting of the 2017 Junior East Challenge event. We are still seeking hosts for the 2017 USA Curling Mixed Doubles Qualifying Event and the 2017 Mixed National Championships. 
• Registration for the USCA Open High Performance Camp closes at midnight tonight, and there are still a few spots available. The camp is Aug. 26-28 at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minn. 
• The Opening Ceremonies for the Rio Summer Olympics are tonight. Opening ceremonies for the Olympic Summer Games are about to begin! Because the Summer Olympics brings an increased interest in all Olympic sports, USA Curling has been collecting information on member club open houses, learn-to-curl classes, and other events open to the public this fall. If you want your club’s information posted on the USA Curling website during the Games, please provide relevant information by filling out the electronic event reporting form. Go Team USA! 
• Forty more brands have been added to the ProMotive USCA member benefits program, which provides discounts of up to 70% off of retail pricing. Among the brands recently added are Smartwool, PetSafe, Skullcandy, Rollerblade and Sierra Designs. Joining ProMotive is simple and FREE.  Click here to access the site. Enter the code: 4D34-66AB-DAED-F443.
• USCA ice technician Jeff Schliesman, also the head ice technician at the Madison (Wis.) Curling Club, has agreed to head up the ice crew for the 2017 USCA Senior Men’s National Championship at the Centerville (Wis.) Curling Club. 
• NFL Pro Bowler and 2016 Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis, now playing for the Washington Redskins, has been keeping up his positive commentary on curling and his six-plus years of supporting the sport. 
• The FY17 USCA Budget was approved by the USCA Board of Directors at its July 28 meeting. 
• A Town Hall meeting open to all members was held on Tuesday, with USCA Chairman Rich Lepping and 3-time Olympian John Shuster joining me on the call as we highlighted the July 28 Board of Directors meeting business and the high performance program. Total attendance was 18 people. 
• Mike Dellemann and I had a call with the Director of Sports for Visit Duluth to discuss opportunities for support with the staging of the Curling Night in America event at the Duluth (Minn.) Curling Club in December. As a result of the call, we are applying for a grant through Explore Minnesota, the state tourism organization. 
• The USCA Rules Committee I recently established had its first meeting (teleconference) and discussed, among other things, recommendations for sweeping equipment for recreational curling in anticipation of the World Curling Federation’s expected adoption of standardized sweeping equipment rules at its upcoming Congress in early September. 
• The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Team Selection Procedures were approved by the U.S. Paralympic Division and publicized. 
• The 2018 U.S. Olympic Mixed Doubles Team Selection Procedures were approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee and publicized. 
• The 2015 USCA Annual Report has been received in print and digitalform. 
• Chairman Rich Lepping, Minnesota Curling Association President Kathy Busch and I met with representatives of the Chaska Curling Center to discuss elements of membership in the USCA. 
• Following initial written and verbal correspondence, I had our first in-person sponsorship discussion with Ki Mobility, headquartered in Stevens Point, Wis. 
• The USOC Performance Partnership Agreement for the 2016-17 season has been signed. The USOC has again gone along with our request to frontload the resource allocation, to better align with our higher outgoing cash flow and expenses incurred earlier in the fiscal year. 
• The final report for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life Grant Foundation was filed as was the 3^rd quarter report for the Veterans Administration Adaptive Sports Grant. 
• The Aberdeen (S.D.) Curling Club and Orlando (Fla.) Curling Club were granted provisional membership in the USCA, and I am currently reviewing an application for the same from the Utah Oval Curling Club in Salt Lake City. 
• USCA Board and Standing Committee members and staff who completed their USA Curling SafeSport training prior to July 1, 2014, are required to take refresher training, and should have received an email about this recently from Christy Hering. 
• All USCA staff members are completing the DISC profile process through Team8 Assessments as part of a professional development and staff evaluation program I have implemented. This is being supported by a grant from the USOC. 
• We are still seeking donations of laptops and monitors you may no longer have a use for and be willing to part with for use in officiating and timing at USCA events. 
• Junior Development Director Dave Jensen has just secured Mark Lazar as the coach for the junior men’s team in the High Performance Program that was still without a coach, meaning all program coaching positions are now filled. 

What’s up next week:                                                                              

• Bi-monthly planning call with Hawaii Charity Event organizers, Tuesday. 
• Chairman Lepping and I have a call on Thursday with Chaska (Minn.) Curling Club leaders as a follow-up to a meeting we had on July 26. 
• USCA Diversity & Inclusion Committee meeting by teleconference, Thursday. 

What’s coming two weeks from now (Aug. 14-20, 2016):

• USCA Operations Group meeting by teleconference, Aug. 16.