BONUS ONLINE-ONLY COVERAGE //
USCA receives grant to increase participation in wheelchair curling
Four outreach clinics will take place this season By Terry Kolesar, Editor
Olympic Opportunity Fund to help advance its wheelchair curling outreach programs. Te Olympic Opportunity Fund is provided
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through a partnership between the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs. Grants ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 were provided to USOC part- ner organizations to increase the number and quality of opportunities for physically and visu- ally impaired veterans to participate in physical activity within their home communities and in more advanced Paralympic sport programs. “Tanks to the generous support from the
United States Olympic Committee and the De- partment of Veterans Affairs, we are excited for the opportunity to introduce the sport of wheel- chair curling to our injured service members and veterans,” said Marc Deperno, USA Curling’s
he United States Curling Association (USCA) has received a grant from the
national wheelchair outreach and development program director. “We aim to provide an athletic experience that will serve as a gateway to contin- ued recreational or competitive opportunities and ultimately enrich their lives.” Te USCA aims to conduct at least four out-
reach clinics during the 2012-13 season and es- timates at least 50 disabled veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces will be served. Te purpose of the program is to identify, recruit, train, and support Paralympic-eligible athletes in an effort to improve their quality of life and potentially become internationally competitive. As a result, the USCA believes the participants will have a positive experience and opportunity to continue with the lifelong sport of curling. Te grant funds will be used to conduct a
minimum of four outreach clinics throughout the United States by June 30, 2013, to introduce wheelchair curling and recruit disabled veterans to the national program; provide opportunities
for clinic attendees to participate in a mini com- petition during the wheelchair curling clinics, and for the purchase of at least eight delivery sticks needed for the clinics. In its third year, the Olympic Opportunity
Fund has provided more than $4 million to 223 USOC partner and community programs, re- sulting in thousands of veterans with physical and visual impairments who are participating in sport programs and opportunities at the regional and national levels. Since 2001, the USCA has supported national
development of wheelchair curling. Te associa- tion’s mission continues to focus on providing education and training in the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling to individuals with dis- abilities in an effort to improve their quality of life by attaining personal achievement and en- couraging social interaction, as well as provide an opportunity to represent our country at the Paralympic level. n
// WORLD CURLING FEDERATION NEWS Switzerland to host 2014 World Junior Championships
Junior Curling Championships in 2014. Te event will be staged in the Waldhaus
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Arena Feb. 26-March 5, 2014. It will be the third time that the town of Flims in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden will host the world juniors. Pre- vious world junior championships were staged in Flims in 2003 and 2010. “Te World Curling Federation is delighted to
return to Flims and the first-class Waldhaus Are- na curling facility,” said World Curling Federa-
he World Curling Federation an- nounced in October that Flims, Swit- zerland, has been awarded the World
tion President Kate Caithness. “We look forward to working with the local organizing committee and our Member Association SwissCurling to stage these junior championships in a part of the world that has such strong links with our sport. Te 2010 event set a high standard and we look forward to seeing the best junior teams in the world compete in this exceptional environment.” Ten junior men’s and ten junior women’s
teams from the World Curling Federation’s Americas, European and Pacific-Asia Zones will compete in the event. Some will qualify from the final ranking at the 2013 World Juniors. Others
will qualify through regional junior champion- ships or challenges. Te 2013 World Junior Curling Champion-
ships will be held in the Ice Cube Curling Cen- ter in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 28-March 10. Te U.S. event to determine its entrants will take place Jan. 26-Feb. 2 at the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Mass. Te 2014 Junior Nationals will be staged in Seattle.
Source: World Curling Federation
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