Dec 9 2016 Edition

    What happened in the previous two weeks:

    Inside the curling world

    • Following USCA Executive Committee review and support, the USCA Board of Directors was asked to vote on a proposal to purchase a Street Curling rink which will ultimately be paid for by the U.S. Olympic Committee for use in a 2017-18 national Road to PyeongChang promotional campaign. The Board has approved the purchase, which will allow us to utilize this rink in January 2017 Frozen Fenway promotions in conjunction with USCA sponsor CryoMAX.
    • Chairman Rich Lepping and I met with St. Paul CC leaders Nov. 29 to continue discussions about how the USCA and its largest member club can continue working together for mutual benefit. St. Paul leaders included President Tim McMahon, Vice President Ron Paul, Past President Linda Lokensgard, Director Donn Satrom, and General Manager Scott Clasen. On Sunday, Chairman Lepping and I had similarly good discussions with Frogtown (Minn.) CC leaders discuss benefits of USCA membership and becoming part of the national curling community.
    • USA Curling was able to offer significant discounts at various online stores on cyber Monday through Experticity.com. We are currently working with Experticity to continue to offer our members additional exclusive deals throughout the holiday season.  Signing up is simple and free: 1.Visit Experticity.com or download the mobile app;  2.Use the code: AFD4-74F3-43E4-A5F9 to unlock your access; and 3.Complete your profile and start saving.
    • Insurance renewal forms are being accepted for the 2016-17 USA Curling Club Insurance Program. To participate in the program, click here to complete the application. (Please note: GNCC clubs should renew through the GNCC program).
    • Due to popular demand, USA Curling Club Calendars are available for sale to members. Place your order by today in order to have them available for Christmas. Each calendar is $10, including shipping.

    Events/Sport Education

    • Pre-registration for the 2017 Arena Championships opened Thursday. Clubs must pre-register their interest in submitting teams in the men’s and/or women’s event by Dec.28.
    • The GNCC Club Playdowns are being web streamed this week.
    • Kim Nawyn gave a presentation at the annual conference for the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance last week, focusing on introducing the sport in the gym.
    • Level I and Level II officiating courses were held at the Evergreen Curling Club and Waupaca Curling Club last weekend. Evergreen CC is preparing to host the 2017 Senior Women’s Nationals; Waupaca CC will host the Women’s Challenge Round. Both events are scheduled to take place in January. Check the USA Curling website for additional upcoming officiating training opportunities.
    • Regional event registration has closed for the new U18 National Championships in the three regions, while it is about to open in several others. In the GLCA, 5 men’s and 5 women’s teams have registered. In Wisconsin, there are 4 men’s and 4 women’s teams, and in Illinois, no teams registered.

    Grants/Sponsorships/Revenue Development

    • The “Giving Tuesday” campaign created by the USCA Revenue Development Committee surpassed the goal of $5,000 with donations totaling over $7,000. Over 93% of the 187 people who responded to the campaign were donating to the USCA for their first time in 2016.
    • All USCA National Office employees are currently engaged in promotional efforts to help attract 40,000 unique visitors to the web site in December. If successful, this will generate an additional $25,000 in the media fee paid by the USOC to the USCA for 2016 as part of the Digital Media Agreement. As part of this effort, we will be launching a “12 days of giving back…” campaign on Dec. 14.
    • The USOC added to a previously awarded NGB professional grant and arranged for several mentorship and professional development sessions for me in Colorado Springs this week.
    • The USOC has approved a $5,500 special grant we had applied for as part of a competitive advantage project associated with the 2017 Women’s World Curling Championships in Beijing.

    Communications/PR

    • The competition and TV production for the third annual Curling Night in America event went very smoothly at the Duluth (Minn.) Curling Club last week, thanks to a tremendous volunteer effort by the Duluth curlers and business community support. China, Japan, Scotland and USA participated in women’s, men’s and mixed doubles competitions. This made-for-TV series will result in nine two-hour programs that will air on NBC Sports Network January – March 2017, with the first episode Jan. 8. Pete Fenson will be the analyst for NBC for this series, with Jason Knapp doing play-by-play and Tanith Belbin White as the sideline reporter.
    • Curling Canada’s “Season of Champions” events will again be streamed on ESPN3 as part of a renewal deal recently announced.

    Competitive Programs

    • The selection procedures for team leader, coaches, and additional staff for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team for curling have been approved by the USOC and are posted.
    • The new Dry Land Training Center at Fogerty Arena is nearly complete, and was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Olympic Committee as this is the home of the first U.S. Olympic Training Site for curling.
    • Draws for the Men’s and Women’s National Challenge Rounds have been posted.
    • The USCA High Performance Program teams turned in strong performances at the Duluth Cashspiel. Nine of the 12 teams in the program competed, including three of the four junior teams. All three men’s and women’s program teams reached the playoffs. In the women’s final, the HPP Red team led by Nina Roth defeated the Blue team led by Jamie Sinclair. In the men’s final, the HPP Blue team led by Heath McCormick beat the Red team led by John Shuster.
    • The USOC Sport Performance team assisted our coaching staff with glucose testing and monitoring during the Duluth Cashspiel as part of a performance monitoring and nutrition level evaluation project.

    What’s up next week:

    • Induction ceremony for newest USCA Hall of Fame member Lori Mountford, Sunday, at the Madison (Wis.) Curling Club.
    • USOC SafeSport implementation workshop, Wednesday.
    • USOC Digital Media Agreement Q4 meeting, Thursday.
    • 2017 USCA Dues/Roster Packets are expected to start going out to all member clubs next week.

    What’s coming two weeks from now (Dec. 18-24, 2016):

    USCA Operations Group meeting, Dec. 20. 


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