2010-11 usa curling media kit
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The offical 2010-11 USA Curling Media KitTRANSCRIPT
to the skip position this season, back
curling again with former teammates
2006 Olympian Courtney George
(Duluth, Minn.), Amanda McLean
(Duluth, Minn.) and junior competi‐
tor Miranda Solem (Cohasset,
Minn.).
MEN:
Team Fenson: 2010 national cham‐
pion Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.)
and longtime teammates and fellow
2006 Olympic bronze medalists
Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.)
and Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.) once
again have a new man up front as
Ryan Brunt (St. Paul, Minn.) joins the
team in the lead position.
Team Brown: Two‐time national
champion Craig Brown (Madison,
Wis.) has a new team this season.
He’ll team up with 2010 Olympian
John Shuster, who switches to the
vice skip position after skipping the
men’s Olympic team. Making up the
front‐end is 2007 national champion
Greg Johnson (Appleton, Wis.) and
Derrick Casper (Green Bay, Wis.).
The Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D., will
host the 2011 USA Curling National
Championships, Feb. 12‐19.
This marks the third straight year
that the Nationals have been hosted
in an
arena
setting,
as op‐
posed to
the tradi‐
tional
curling
club
setting of
year’s
past. This
switch allows the sport to be show‐
cased in a bigger setting, which
opens up marketing and sponsorship
opportunities.
The top 20 men’s and women’s
teams will compete during the week‐
long event in North Dakota. Men’s
teams begin qualifying Jan. 5‐9 at
four qualifier sites around the U.S. —
Seattle; Rochester, N.Y.; Bismarck,
N.D.; and Medford, Wis. Women’s
entries have been low the past few
years. They’ll advance directly to
Nationals if there are not enough
teams to play a preliminary competi‐
tion to qualify. Teams have until
Nov. 29 to register for the National
Championships.
Several team personnel changes
occurred in the off‐season, most
notably with the 2010 Olympic
teams. Here is a quick look at some
of the Nationals hopefuls for 2011:
WOMEN:
Team Pottinger: 2010 Olympians
Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie,
Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad (Madison,
Wis.) and Natalie Nicholson
(Bemidji, Minn.) will all move up a
position as they parted ways with
skip Debbie McCormick in the off‐
season. Sarah Lehman (Bemidji,
Minn.) joins the team in the lead
position. McCormick opted to focus
on trying to start a family and a new
career as a Goldine curling supplier.
She’ll keep up with the competitive
curling as fifth/alternate player for
the defending national champions,
led by Erika Brown.
Team Brown: The defending na‐
tional champion team remains intact
with Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario),
Nina Spatola (McFarland, Wis.), Ann
Swisshelm (Chicago) and Laura
Hallisey (Medfield, Mass.). They’ll
team up with Pete Fenson’s team
and four Canadian teams at the 2011
Continental Cup in January, a curling
event similar to golf’s Ryder Cup.
Brown and the American women
finished fifth at the 2010 World
Women’s Championship in Swift
Current, Saskatchewan, in March.
Team Lank: Patti Lank has finished
as runner‐up at the Nationals the
past three seasons. Joining Lank is
longtime vice skip Caitlin Maroldo
(Rochester, N.Y.), 2006 Olympian
Jessica Schultz (Richfield, Minn.) and
Christina Schwartz (Fargo, N.D.).
Team Sormunen: Two‐time junior
champion Aileen Sormunen returns
Fargo set to host 2011 National Championships
Ins ide t h i s i s sue : Team Updates 2
Calendar of
Events 2
Wheelchair Team
Announced 3
2010‐11 Results 3
Continental Cup 4
Other News 4
Sponsors 4
USA Curling
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Stevens Point, WI 54482
www.usacurl.org
Your media contact:
Terry Kolesar
Director of Communications
O: 715‐344‐1199, Ext. 202
C: 608‐338‐9900
F: 715‐344‐2279
Connect with USA Curling:
2010‐11 Media Kit
Continued on next page
P a g e 2
Championship Calendar
Event:
World University Games Team Selection Event
2011 U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship
2011 U.S. Nationals Qualifying Round (men only)
2011 Continental Cup of Curling
2011 U.S. Nationals Men’s Challenge Round
2011 U.S. Nationals Women’s Challenge Round
2011 Winter World University Games
2011 USA Curling Junior National Championships
2011 USA Curling Senior Men’s Nationals (50+)
2011 USA Curling Senior Women’s Nationals (50+)
2011 USA Curling National Championships
2011 World Wheelchair Championship
2011 USA Curling Club Championships
2011 World Junior Championships
2011 U.S. Mixed National Championship
2011 Capital One World Women’s Championship
2011 Ford World Men’s Championship
2011 World Mixed Doubles Championship
2011 World Senior Championships (50+)
2 0 1 0 ‐ 1 1 M e d i a K i t
Dates:
Nov. 12‐14
Dec. 9‐12
Jan. 5‐9
Jan. 13‐16
Jan. 19‐23
Jan. 19‐23
Jan. 27‐Feb. 6
Jan. 29‐Feb. 5
Feb. 2‐6
Feb. 3‐6
Feb. 12‐19
Feb. 22‐March 1
March 5‐12
March 5‐13
March 19‐26
March 19‐27
April 2‐10
April 16‐23
April 16‐23
Location:
Fargo, N.D.
Duluth, Minn.
Bismarck, N.D.; Seattle; Rochester, N.Y.; Medford, Wis.
St. Albert, Alberta
Waupaca, Wis.
Grand Forks, N.D.
Erzurum, Turkey
Fairbanks, Alaska
Wayland, Mass.
Bismarck, N.D.
Fargo, N.D.
Prague, Czech Republic
Mankato, Minn.
Perth, Scotland
Midland, Mich.
Esbjerg, Denmark
Regina, Saskatchewan
St. Paul, Minn.
St. Paul, Minn.
Continued from Page 1...
Team George: 2010 national champion
Tyler George (Duluth, Minn.) opted to
skip his own team this year. He’s joined
by 2010 Olympian Chris Plys (Duluth,
Minn.), 2008 national champion Rich
Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and
2010 Olympic Men’s Coach Phill Drob‐
nick (Duluth, Minn.) is back to playing
versus coaching.
Team Birr: 2007 World Bronze Medalist
Todd Birr (Mankato, Minn.) has altered
his team slightly for the 2010‐11 season.
Joining him in the vice skip spot is 2001
national champion Greg Romaniuk
(Seattle); 2004 national champion Doug
Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Tom
O’Connor (Golden Valley, Minn.) make
up the front end.
Other team notes: 2010 Olympian John
Benton (St. Michael, Minn.) moved from
the lead position to skip his own team,
with all members coming from John’s
club — the St. Paul Curling Club. His vice
skip is Jeff Puleo, who was the runner‐up
in the 2010 Nationals. 2006 Olympians
Cassie (Johnson) Potter and Jamie
(Johnson) Haskell will continue to focus
on their careers but plan to compete in
the Mixed Doubles Championship this
year. In addition, 2006 Olympian Mau‐
reen (Brunt) Clark is continuing her law
school studies and is taking a break from
competitive curling for the moment.
Erika Brown (above) celebrates winning
the 2010 national championship title.
2010 national champion Pete Fenson
(above) is seeking his seventh national
title this season and another chance
at a world championship medal.
Wheelchair Curling Team Selected
P a g e 3
Five athletes were named to Team USA's
wheelchair curling team after a three‐day tryout at the
Green Bay (Wis.) Curling Club over the weekend.
2010 Paralympians Augusto Perez (East
Syracuse, N.Y.), Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.),
James Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.), Jacqui Kapinowski
(Point Pleasant, N.J.) and James Joseph (New Hartford,
N.Y.) were selected to the team. Athletes named as
alternates for Team USA include Tammy Delano
(Rome, N.Y.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.), Laura
Schwanger (Mantua, N.J.) and Bob Prenoveau
(Chittenango, N.Y.). The alternates will compete in
events and train as Team USA B.
Team USA’s athletes were selected by a six‐
person committee based on skills testing, game par‐
ticipation and strategy assessment as well as inter‐
views to determine team/player compatibility.
Team USA will compete in several competi‐
tions and take part in high performance training
camps in the lead up to the 2011 World Wheelchair
Curling Championship, which is set to take place Feb.
22‐March 1 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Update: Due to a shoulder injury requiring surgery,
McDonald will be replaced with one of three alter‐
nates this season.
How USA finished last year at world/Olympic/
Paralympic championships:
Junior Worlds: Women (bronze); Men (9th)
Last USA gold: Women —2002, Cassie (Johnson)
Potter rink; Men — 2008 (men, Chris Plys rink)
2010 Olympic Games: Women (10th); Men
(10th)
Last USA gold: The Americans have never won
gold at the Olympic Games. Pete Fenson’s team
won bronze in 2006.
2010 Paralympic Games: 4th
Last USA gold: The Americans are seeking their
first medal of any color at this event.
World Wheelchair Championship: This even was
not played in 2010 due to the Paralympics; USA has yet to win gold but won bronze in 2008.
World Championships: Women (5th); Men (4th)
Last USA gold: Women — 2003, Debbie McCormick rink; Men — 1978, Bob Nichols rink
World Senior Championships: Women (4th); Men (gold)
Last USA gold: Women — The American women have never won world senior gold; Men — 2010, Paul Pustovar rink
World Mixed Doubles Championship: USA (10th)
Last USA gold: Just in its third year of existence, the American have yet to medal at this event.
The Americans captured the gold at the 2010 World Senior Championship this
spring in Russia.
Team USA (front, l‐r) members: Augusto “Goose” Perez, Jimmy Pierce, Jacqui Kapinowski, James “Jimmy Jam”
Joseph and Patrick McDonald.
USA’s junior team embraces after
winning the bronze medal at the 2010
World Juniors in Switzerland.
Fenson, Brown headed to Continental Cup
2010 U.S. national champions Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario) will lead their teams at the 2011 Continental Cup of Curling this winter in Canada as the Cup returns from a year hiatus.
The 2011 Cup is set for Jan. 13‐16 in St. Albert, Alberta, near Edmonton. This is the seventh edition of this Ryder Cup‐like event and will be sponsored by the World Financial Group. The Continental Cup features Team North America composed of four Canadian and two U.S. teams taking on six of the top European and Asian teams representing Team
World.
Fenson and teammates Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.), Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.) and Ryan Brunt (St. Paul, Minn.) along with Brown and her teammates Nina Spatola (McFarland, Wis.), Ann Swisshelm (Chicago) and Laura Hallisey (Medfield, Mass.) will team up with Canadian teams skipped by 2010 Olympians Kevin Martin and Cheryl Bernard and 2010 Canadian champions Jennifer Jones and Kevin Koe in skins, mixed skins, singles, mixed doubles, and team competitions during the four‐day event at Servus Credit Union Place.
The World Curling Federation has announced five of its six teams. Representing Team World will be rinks skipped by 2010 Olympic silver medalist Thomas Ulsrud of Norway; 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Bingyu Wang of China; 2010 Olympic fourth‐place finishers Niklas Edin of Sweden and Mirjam Ott of Switzerland; and 2010 women’s world champion Andrea Schopp of Germany.
This will be the seventh Continental Cup, all hosted in Canada. The event began in 2002 in Regina, Sas‐katchewan, and since then each side has won three titles.
What else is new?
TV:
As part of the joint marketing agreement with the U.S.
Olympic Committee, the finals of the 2011 National
Championships will be webstreamed live.
Webscoring:
Live end‐by‐end webscoring will be available from all
of our championship events this season. Check the
USA Curling website for links.
Winter World University Games:
Turkey will host the 2011 Winter World University
Games Jan. 27‐Feb. 6. USA’s curling teams will be
determined Nov. 12‐14 in Fargo, N.D. , at a team
competition event.
Youth Olympic Games:
This summer the first Youth Olympic Games was held
in Singapore. In 2012, winter sports will be showcased
Jan. 13‐22 in Innsbruck, Austria. USA Curling will have
a selection process next season for selecting its teams
for this inaugural event. The Games are forecasted to
bring 1,058 athletes between ages 14 and 18 from
over 70 nations to compete in 7 sports that also will
be featured in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in
Sochi.
Injury report:
2010 Paralympian Patrick McDonald will undergo
season‐ending shoulder surgery in October. McDonald
has qualified for the national wheelchair curling team
in late September after tryouts. He’ll be replaced by
one of the team’s alternates after their skills are evalu‐
ated at competitions leading up to the 2011 Wheel‐
chair World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic.
Nationals update:
Two direct berths to the National Championships will
be awarded to the top two men’s and women’s teams
based on performances this fall on the World Curling
Tour. Those teams will be able to forgo the qualifying
rounds in January and prepare directly for the Nation‐
als Feb. 12‐19 at the Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Download a copy of the 2010‐11 USA Curling Media Guide & Directory: http://issuu.com/uscurlingnews/docs/2010.11.mgd