// TALES FROM SHEET NINE


Coaching debates date back decades


By David Garber, Emeritus Editor, dj.garber@tds.net Capes


throughout the Midwest, and he looked great. Capes can interfere with sweeping, billowing and the like, so I do not recommend their use for front ends.


I Curling coaching key to future competitive success Aſter winning 12 of the first 14 men’s world championships, Canada


went seven years without a men’s world championship, from 1973-79. Te late great Canadian Ray Kingsmith (Canadian Curling Association Hall of Fame) was quoted in the March 1980, North American Curling News (in turn quoting the Canadian Curling News) with his take on the problem, saying, “Yes, we lost on the ice, but first we lost off the ice. Te CCA has to shoulder some of the blame for this. I mean, do you know any sport that has a world championship in which the coaches (and/or managers) aren’t employed? Only Canada and the U.S. teams showed up (in Berne) without.” Kingsmith added that Canada skip Barry Fry had to spend time on site looking for a room for his wife.” Ray’s suggestions, including on-site train- ers, became standard practice for North American world teams. (Of course, many readers are aware that the real reason for this Canadian drought was Te Curse of Labonte.) So, what of the issue of coaching adult curlers? (Tere is not much debate


about the need for coaching at the junior level.) Te concept can be a hot topic in some quarters. Some are adamant that U.S. adult teams need to develop a professional coaching cadre to keep up with the rest of the world. Full-fledged coaches (as opposed to mere provision of logistical support) would handle the full range of duties in team formation and development. Tis concept is anathema to some curlers: the North American tradition of self-formed teams, under athlete control, remains a strong part of the curling culture. Money is also a limiting factor, since curling is not a var- sity high school or collegiate sport and thus lacks an infrastructure to pay coaches beyond just a few at the very top level. Some say curling is “different” than other sports, and thus full-fledged


coaches are not needed. Others say curling is like any other team sport: great coaching helps virtually all athletes and teams. Tey add that great coaches in any sport are athlete recruiters, innovators, teachers, technique improvers, game planners, opposition scouts, and most important, motiva- tors and team psychologists. Tere are many skilled, dedicated coaches serving curlers around the


country today. But it is argued that, with some exceptions on the junior level, coaches’ limited authority limits the potential for positive impact on team performance. To complicate matters, all this may be a moot point be- cause, until curling coaches can make a living as curling coaches, attain- ment of a professional coaching cadre to serve many teams (not just the top elite) will be very difficult.


40 years ago In an editorial in the May 1973 North American Curling News: “Curling 28 usacurl.org ))


t is my belief that if skips routinely wore capes, curling TV and In- ternet coverage would not be shrouded. Te late Ray Finlay of the Wilmette Curling Club was known to wear a cape while curling


is losing ground to other sports in the U.S., and is going nowhere. Te U.S. Men’s Curl- ing Association should hire Bud Somerville to go around the country to have curling schools.” (Te B&B Curling Clinics – Bud and Bobby Nichols, privately oper- ated – attracted a number of students in the Midwest in the late 1970s and early 1980s.)


Olympic curling history (an addition to my November 2012 column) Te International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Committee


added curling to the program of the Olympic Games in 1992, due to efforts of many people, including the late Gunther Hummelt, then World Curling Federation president; Swiss curler Franz Tanner; and past IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch. Once the WCF became a member of the IOC as a full-medal sport, the USCA was eligible to join the United States Olym- pic Committee as the National Governing Body for curling. Tis process included a 1992 meeting in Dallas where the USCA passed muster with the USOC Membership and Credentials Committee with an unprecedented (at that time) no gigs. Tis step, followed by the USCA earning respect in the U.S. Olympic sport community, required smart and sustained effort by key USCA volunteer leaders, including athlete representatives and several di- rectors. Te effort commenced in 1986 when the USCA added women to the USCA board to foster gender equality. Te Olympic presence has generated mixed feelings within the curling


community, for oſt-discussed reasons. I think the impact of the Olympic Games on U.S. curling is best illustrated by the presence of thousands more U.S. curlers, scores more U.S. curling clubs, and this summer’s Arena Club National Championship. “Who woulda thunk it” before the Salt Lake Games? Date to be announced: Science meets curling with the concert Ben Tucker


Sings Songs of High Plains Beet Farming on Ground Tat in Winter is Good Draw Ice. n


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