Oct 14 2016 Edition

What happened in the previous two weeks:
Inside the curling world

The third annual USA Curling Members’ Assembly is underway in Tempe, Ariz., with numerous best practice sessions and networking opportunities designed to help further the growth and development of curling nationwide. Coach Jack Lengyel of “We Are Marshall” fame provided a very inspirational keynote address this afternoon.
Several more USCA ice technician courses have been scheduled this fall.

Events & Television

Registration for the 2017 USA Curling Junior National Championships Qualifiers is now open.
The Williston Basin Curling Club in Williston, N.D., has been selected to host the 2017 USA Curling Mixed National Championship,
We had a site visit in Duluth, Minn., Tuesday-Wednesday for planning and technical discussions for the staging and TV production for Curling Night in America. World Curling Federation and World Curling TV representatives took part.
RFPs are now available for arenas, curling clubs and communities interested in bidding to host the 2018 U.S. Olympic Mixed Doubles Team Trials, and the 2017-18 Curling Night in America event, a made-for-TV series that results in 9 programs airing on NBC Sports Network.
The Utah Olympic Oval Curling Club in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been selected to host the 2018 USA Curling Arena Championships.

Grants/Sponsorships/Revenue Development

We are in the contract phase now with Ki Mobility to become the newest USCA sponsor of our Paralympic program. Hawley MacLean, David Staveteig and I took part in a teleconference with representatives from DOW and Illinois Water Tech on Tuesday as we continue to work on a portable water treatment solution to be used by the USCA ice tech crew at national events.
The fourth annual Hawaii Charity Curling Classic took place Wednesday-Thursday in Honolulu, with Olympians Debbie McCormick and Shawn Rojeski as the featured athletes. USCA ice techs David Staveteig and Kevin Madsen prepared the ice for this fundraiser, which contributes $25,000 annually to USA Curling along with supporting Honolulu charitable causes selected by American Savings Bank. Twenty teams of six people each participated in two sessions Thursday afternoon and evening, in the main fundraising events.

Communications/PR

The first fall edition of the U.S. Curling News should be reaching your mailboxes soon.
The 2016-17 USCA Media Guide/Directory is off the press and ready for distribution.
Terry has created a Sway site featuring action from the fourth annual Hawaii Charity Curling Classic.
Shawn and Debbie also did numerous media appearances and visited students at Moanalua High School on Wednesday. Those students and others from this year’s beneficiary organization – Kupu – took part in their own curling session Thursday morning. Kupu provides service-learning programs in industries such as conservation, renewable energy, agriculture and sustainability for Hawaii’s youth.

Competitive Programs

All six USA Curling High Performance Program teams competed in the St. Paul Cashspiel last week, as did three of the Junior Development teams. The teams led by Cory Christensen and Heath McCormick won the women’s and men’s events, defeating fellow HPP teams in the finals. McCormick’s team had an especially outstanding event, going undefeated and outscoring opponents 48-13 through seven games.
The McCormick and Nina Roth teams currently lead the points chase to determine which U.S. teams will join Team North America at the 2017 WFG Continental Cup of Curling in Las Vegas in January.
The World Mixed Championship is underway in Kazan, Russia. Team USA includes Fred Maxie, Em Good, MacAllan Guy and Frances Walsh, coached by Bob Walstad.
The U.S. Paralympics Division has confirmed its resource allocation and program support for the USCA Paralympic Program for 2017. As has been noted earlier, the Paralympic program allocation will now be tied to a calendar year basis instead of the USCA’s current July 1-June 30 fiscal year timing.
Two nominees are in the running for the USOC Athletes Advisory Council position for the USCA – Dean Gemmell and Joe Polo. Voting continues through Oct. 21.

What’s up next week:

What’s coming two weeks from now (Oct. 23-29, 2016):

USCA annual external audit, Oct 24-28