WHERE ARE THEY NOW? //


tion for these Games. Tere was NO other sport, including men’s curl-


ing, that had teams or portions of teams where sev- en of the eight teams had medaled in their respec- tive sports’ world championships. In most Olympic events, especially in the team competitions, there is usually a free bingo space or two to improve one’s winning record or gain a good seed for a playoff round. Tere would be no ‘easy’ games, as if in curl- ing there ever is! Let me re-introduce you to one of the finest wom-


en’s teams in world curling history. Where are they now and what are they up to? Te team initially formed in 1986 when they


learned curling would be a demonstration sport at the Calgary Olympics in 1988. Lisa, Erika and Lori were all members of that team. Erika was only 14 years old and had her former babysitter, Lori, on the team to keep tabs on her. Erika loved how these women formed ‘a team,’


which included their coach Steve Brown – a world- class curler in his own right. “We stuck it out to- gether for 10 awesome years of blood, sweat, laugh- ter, travel, victory and defeat,” Brown said. “My father, Steve, was our coach and my mentor. His level of commitment to the game, my teammates and our success were remarkable. His work ethic was unsurpassed, and I attribute a great deal of my success to him.” Allison (Darragh) Pottinger was an original


member of the team but was not an American citi- zen prior to the Olympic Team Trials, even though she was working to that end but fell short of her dream to be a part of the team. Her citizenship was not approved in time for the Olympics, which ini- tially threw a wrench into the team dynamics. Te team found a quality replacement in Debbie (Henry) McCormick, whom they had all known and played with for years. Tey all curled out of the Madison (Wis.) Curling Club, so she became the obvious re- placement for Allison. And, of course, this experi- ence more than helped McCormick in preparation for skipping Team USA to its one and only women’s world championship gold medal in 2003. Schoeneberg is the only member of this team


not curling anymore, although she is still involved in the sport, back living in Madison. Mountford also lives in Madison and skips her own competi- tive team. McCormick lives near Madison in the little town of Rio and works for Goldline Curling Supplies driving across the country in the Goldline Mobile Pro Shop. On the ice she has re-joined forces with Brown, who lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband, Ian Tetley, and works as a physician’s assistant. Tetley is one of Canada’s best curlers ever with three world championships on his resume. Tetley curled with two of curling’s biggest char-


acters of all-time, winning one world title with Al “Te Ice-man” Hackner and two titles with Eddie “Te Wrench” Werenich. Schoeneberg said she stopped curling competi-


tively aſter Japan: “Following the Olympic Games in 1988, I was in-


vited to work a curling camp in Odgen, Utah, home of curling for the Salt Lake Olympic Games 2002. Te Organizing Committee’s sport manager for curling asked if I would be interested in moving to SLC and working as the curling assistant manager. I packed my things and moved to SLC in 2000. “Tis was the beginning of a new chapter, work-


ing for the sport I love with my main focus on ath- lete requirements for the Games, i.e., officials, ice, WCF visits, volunteers, etc. Te Games were a great experience and I was even able to carry the torch in downtown SLC. “Following the Games I was approached by the


2006 Torino Organizing Committee, which was interested in me applying for the curling competi- tion manager for the Games. I flew to Torino for an interview and moved there in 2003. Te curling venue in Pinerolo was an open-air facility at the time, but became a state-of-the-art curling venue for the Games. “It was one of the most challenging decisions of


my life, but it proved to be one of the greatest and rewarding experiences of my life. “Competition doesn’t always go the way you


expect, but you must cherish the memories. Te Olympic Games was the last competition for me and I wish there would have been a better outcome, but we all know in sport things doesn’t always go as expected.” Schoeneberg is a huge NASCAR fan and has been


to 12 tracks and hopes to make it to them all in the near future. Only 10 to go! You gotta love curlers who love speed. It means they haven’t lost the lust for the high hard one to keep the damage down. Te team won the Olympic Trials in Duluth,


Minn. Tis is very fitting as Duluth/Superior is where so many great American curlers call home. And, Duluth has a unique place in American sports history – period. Te Duluth Eskimos were part of the foundation for the National Football League, which has turned into the most-watched sports league on the planet, even when comparing this to Euro and South American soccer. Maybe Duluth will be a bit of a historic omen for the future of curling in America, and for the growth of the game around the world. Te one game the team recalls as a defining game


at the Trials was versus Kari Liapis, who would be- come their fiſth, in an extra end. Te team was run- ning out of time in an extra end. Just to rewind for a sentence, the time clock was in its beginning stages


for curlers so time management was just becoming part of a curling team’s strategy and awareness. “We had a difficult shot for the win and once I got


in the hack there were about three seconds leſt, not much time to get it off, but we made the shot and this leſt us as the only team undefeated. We would remain undefeated through the competition,” Schoeneberg said. Te team played well at the Olympics but en-


countered some unforeseen controversy on hogline violations. Tis was the only Olympics where on-ice officials called violations, as sensory rocks were not used for a couple more years. Te American team was called for violations more than any of the other teams, yet replays clearly showed no violations. Jan Betker of Team Canada recalls that this was the first event of any level where she was called on a viola- tion, and found with television replay that she never should have been called. Being penalized like this gets in a curler’s head. At the world-class level one wrongly called hogline violation can drastically affect the outcome of a game. So, imagine having multiple violations called that were in fact not vio- lations. Schoeneberg acknowledged that Nagano was


not very good to her, as she was called on several of these violations that took their team out of games. I remember watching these games and feeling hor- rible for Team USA. “It was very frustrating and I felt I let my team down aſter all the work we had done to get there,” Schoeneberg said. “Unfortunately one of the most poignant memo-


ries of our on-ice time at the Nagano games were a few untimely hogline violations that were called on Lisa. Te timing and the injustice of it were heart- breaking,” Brown said. “Te delivery/release of those shots were caught on film by TSN, Canada’s all-sports network, and it clearly shows Lisa had released the rock prior to the hogline. A formal complaint was made with the head official by our coach, Steve Brown, but the damage was done. We lost those games and to some degree our confi- dence. Aſter working for 10 years toward the goal of returning to the Olympics together, this was not something we had anticipated. “Looking back at this time in curling history, it


is a silver lining to say that I feel we have come a long way in objectivity with the introduction of the sensor handles. I think it is the most significant ad- vancement in officiating that the sport has made.” Two million other curlers agree!!! Tis Olympics in Japan will go down in history


for many reasons, but one that all curlers and sports historians talk about is how this was the coronation, in hindsight, for the late Sandra Schmirler of Team Canada.


Continued on next page § USA Curling (( 19 ((


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