IN THE NEWS By Terry L. Kolesar, Editor,
terry.kolesar@usacurl.org
of the 2013 USA Curling Developmental Coach of the Year Award. Both Todhunter and Christensen are first-time recipients of the coach-
ing awards. Todhunter coaches the reigning U.S. national champion Erika Brown rink, which won several events on the World Curling Tour this season and placed fourth at the 2013 Women’s World Championship in March. “I was flattered. You never think about those per-
sonal awards in a team sport,” said Todhunter, who won the U.S. men’s national title twice. “Firstly, this is a team award because no matter what I do as a coach it has to be translated on the ice. It is another award for Team Erika Brown. I’m fortunate to coach a team that has four women who could have each eas- ily been named Athlete of the Year.” When Todhunter hung up his competitive curl-
Top curling coaches named B
ill Todhunter (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 2007 world bronze medal- list, has been named USA Curling’s Coach of the Year for 2013. Minnesota’s Linda Christensen (Duluth, Minn.) is the recipient
Todhunter
ing shoes a few years ago, he turned to coaching. “I always looked at it as a way to give back to our sport,” said Todhunter, who coached Erika Brown to a fiſth-place finish at the 2010 World Women’s Championship as well. “It never really crossed my mind which gender or age group that I wanted to coach; I just knew that I wanted to be with a team who wanted a coach. Team Brown is committed to being the best they can be. As good as they are, and as smart as they are, they are still always trying to find ways to improve.” Brown (Oakville, Ontario) was named USA Curling’s 2013 Female Ath-
lete of the Year and the team, which also includes Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.), Jessica Schultz (Minneapolis, Minn.), and Ann Swisshelm (Chicago), was named 2013 USA Curling Team of the Year. “I couldn’t have done it without them,” Todhunter said about earning
the coaching honor. “It was a great season all year long. I think winning the first two events in Canada starting out of the gate, you could feel the team’s confidence level grow.” Christensen is the long-time coach for her daugh-
ter’s junior team, which finished second at the 2013 Junior Nationals aſter winning the title in 2012. Te team includes Cory Christensen (Duluth, Minn.), Becca Funk (McFarland, Wis.), Anna Bauman (Du- luth, Minn.), Sonja Bauman (Duluth, Minn.) and most recently, Mackenzie Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.). Team members have been resilient in their efforts to remain focused on curling aſter the tragic loss of their teammate, Elizabeth Busche, to cancer last May. “I think it is nice to be recognized by the team
while at the same time helping to improve their curling skills. “Working with John this last year has been a big part of where we are
right now. I honestly don’t think they would be curling together now if it hadn’t been for him. He just taught them a lot of communication skills that I didn’t have. Being a part of the HP [High Performance] Program has been a big part of our healing process,” Christensen said. Te Christensen rink finished its season by winning the 2013 World Uni-
versity Games Trials in May and will now represent the U.S. at the upcom- ing Universiade in December in Italy. Tat win was one of the highlights for Christensen this season as the team’s coach. “Winning the WWUG Trials was great, but when we were in Fairbanks
for our first Junior Nationals, and we got the sportsmanship award, I was really proud of that also. I always make sure that they know that they have to give back to the sport,” Christensen said about the 2011 junior event in Alaska when the team received the Curtis Cup for Sportsmanship, which is voted on by the event’s participants. Christensen has been coaching Cory, Anna and Sonja since they started
curling in Duluth in the junior program. Coach Christensen took them to their first junior playdown event in 2008 to get the girls ready for future competitions. Coaching the majority of the team for so many years has cre- ated solid team camaraderie, Christensen said. “I think I’ve been a constant presence there for them over the years. Tey
are a very good group. Te way they’ve dealt with this year has been abso- lutely amazing to me. Tey handle things better than the adults do. I think they’re all very nice, mature, good kids who are good ambassadors for our sport,” said Christensen, who works as a chemical engineer and co-owns North Shore Analytical, Inc., a lab based out of Duluth, Minn., that con- ducts low-level mercury testing. Prior to her coaching career, Christensen played competitively and par-
ticipated in three U.S. Women’s National Championship events (1996, ’95 and ’93). Christensen, who is a USCA Level II instructor, is current presi- dent of the Duluth Curling Club, a post she has held since 2008. USA Curling’s coaching program continues to expand throughout the
curling community, with new initiatives being developed both within and alongside the High Performance and Growth & Development Programs. Te USA Curling Coaches Association was established earlier this year, and several Sport Education projects are assisting both with the development of coaches and other USA Curling instructional and training programs. “Today as the game progresses, I think you need that coach from the
Christensen
and the parents for the amount of time you put in,” Christensen said about her reaction to learning she had earned the coaching award. “I thought it was nice .... it has been a tough year.” Christensen noted that the team struggled aſter the death of their teammate/friend, but USA Curling’s Proj- ect 2018 National Coach John Benton helped the team heal from the loss
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strategy standpoint and technical aspect as well as for communication, looking outside your sheet for trends in other teams … there’s just so much that a coach can contribute. I think that’s due to Derek Brown and the HP program,” Todhunter said. He also noted the importance of analyzing vid- eos post-game to pick out trends in both the team and their opponents to continually improve. A native of Canada, Todhunter grew up curling in the Langley Curling
Club in British Columbia. In 1994 he moved to Wisconsin and started curl- ing in the Appleton Curling Club. He won U.S. men’s national titles in 2007 and 2004. In 2012 he moved to Florida and works as a national sales man- ager at Beghelli USA, a lighting company. Te award winners were determined by a panel of USA Curling’s High
Performance Program coaches from submissions received from the mem- bership and were approved by the USA Curling Executive Committee. n
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