Women's Nationals

2011 US Women's Nationals was an amazing experience. It was an honor to be among the top teams in the country competing for the title.


The ice conditions were great, the competition was fierce. The schedule was intense with two 10-end games each day for 5 days. It was great!

Our team finished 1-8, which was not what we had hoped or expected...but, along with any first time experience, there is always the possibility of unforseen "glitches" in the plan. As far as preparation, training and teamwork. We had to adapt to a few things throughout the week...It was a learning experience.



The venu was a large arena, with officials, camerman, and press. It was fun to be a part of all of the pomp and circumstance of opening ceremonies, wave to fans and sign autographs. The whole week was pretty amazing. I made some new friends and a lot of great memories.


I definitely want to get back to Nationals. I am developing a new plan to train and develop myself as a player so some day I will make it to the top!

There is so much more I could write about the experiences of Nationals...I could recap every game, and all my favorite shots...but I dont' want to bore everyone. Emilia and I still replay some of our favorite moments, and we hope there are many more great moments in our futures!

Season Recap

Wow...I can't believe how busy I was this season...how quickly it has passed. So much has happened since my last blog post (um...yeah...I know it's been almost 10 months...oops).

It was a crazy year for sure, which ended with playing at US Women's Nationals in Fargo!!! We made it! ...but I'll get to that later.

Soooo...I last wrote in April after training with Dex up in St. Paul, and finding myself on a competitive team for the season. I finished up the Poynette, WI spring league with friends. Our final game my husband subbed on our team and we played against Pete McCormick's rink. Pete was missing members of his team too, so Debbie subbed. That was a lot of fun, and it was nice to talk to Debbie about what it takes to compete.

May 2010 -
Our first event with 2/3 of our competitive rink was up in St. Paul at their summer spiel. I was sooo nervous to prove myself to my new skip ~ and I did not curl well. I had a lot of fun with friends playing tailgate games out in the parking lot. Margeaqux and I were queens of "bags" ...but I was not so hot on the ice.

June 2010 -
The beginning of June left me with a few weeks where I did not get on the ice. ...because there was none. I started running and biking a few times a week when I could fit it in. Toward the end of June, I played with a team in the Badger State Games. We were the champions. I got a gold medal! My kids were extremely impressed.

The end of June a "fun league" at the Pettit National Ice Center got me back on the ice. With extra ice time before and after our league games, I would practice my delivery mechanics. It is at the Pettit Center that I met Coach Neil Doese. We talked a lot about curling, and about competing, and my goals as a curler. We started working together on tweaking my delivery.

July 2010 -
There were several more weeks of the Pettit league and practices in July. Mid-July was the Green Bay Summer Tailgate Bonspiel. I skipped a team of 2nd year curlers for the extremely fun weekend. We ended up runners up in the 3rd event. We had a great time that weekend, and met some great people, including a team from Northwestern Univ who we have all become fairly close with. The friendships I have made over the years curling is one of the BEST things about curling!

August 2010 -
The Rice Lake summer spiel was our first event with our full competitive team...which, at that point, consisted of Kim, Ashley, Emilia and me. Coach Neil came with us, and the weekend went fairly well. We L-Out'd in the semi finals. Again, a fun weekend...and we got to know a lot about each other as teammates.

September 2010 -
Emilia and I signed up to play in the Poynette Fall league which runs for 8 weeks Sept - Oct. I had contacted the league organizer and asked if he knew of anyone who was looking for a front-end...hoping he would be able to put us with someone we could learn from. We got an email the week before league with our assigned teammates. He put us with Betty Wang! She is the Chinese Olympic skip who had won the bronze medal in Vancouver. Amazing!!! Our other teammates, Lori and Richard, were also two good people to know and learn from.

October 2010 -

Emilia and I played at the North Shore bonspiel with Debbie McCormick and Richard Maskell. We won the first event! It was Richard's 135th bonspiel win. I learned a lot that weekend, and it was a great way to kick off the season!

October ended up being a really busy month curling. Ashley came down with Mono...so we had to find a replacement. Luckily, Lori, who we had played with in Poynette, was available. So, we played the St. Paul Men's Cashspiel mid-October. The field was tough, and we did not do win any games...but it was a good learning experience.

The end of October brought a couple fun-spiels. I skipped a team in the KMCC Ladies Fall Fling, and we won the first event! That Thursday/Friday speil was followed immediately by the Madison Halloween speil with the same team I had played with in Green Bay. The Halloween spiel was pure fun! Met lots of great people, and reconnected with old friends!

November 2010 -

The first weekend in November was the Duluth Cashspiel. This cashspiel had a women's division. We won one out of 5 games. Again, it was a learning experience. We definitely had room for improvement, but had proven to ourselves that we had some potential...but we were feeling like the team wasn't quite working in it's current lineup.

The second weekend in November brought me up to St. Paul for a mixed-doubles bonspiel with my partner, Brett. We had signed up for the Mixed-Doubles Nationals, and this was our practice event. We did well. We learned a lot, and were ready for the next competition. There was a major blizzard in the twin cities that weekend, so getting to and from the club was an adventure.

That same weekend, we had a team phone conference, attempted to work through some issues and hopefully make a switch in the team lineup. The lineup change did not go over well, and it was apparent this was not a team that would be together for the long term. Later that week, our skip decided to leave the team. It was a mad scramble to find someone to fill the spot. We were able to get Sherri to play 3rd, and Lori would skip.

December 2010 -

The first weekend in December was the Madison Cashspiel. This was the first weekend we really got a chance to meet our new teammate...despite not playing together, the weekend went well. We didn't win any games, but we proved that we had definite potential.

December was also the Mixed Doubles Nationals in Duluth. Brett and I won a game, and were close on the rest of them. It was a great experience to be at a national competition with timed games, officials, timed practice sessions, and rocks with sensor handles. I was really happy to have this experience so I was not as nervous about all the protocol and procedures when I got to Women's Nationals. :)

January 2010 -

Our competitive team played in the St. Paul Women's Cashspiel. We were runner up in the first event. We played well most of the weekend.

Since 13 teams signed up for Women's Nationals this year, there was a "challenge round" in Grand Forks, ND to play for the berth ton Nationals. We ended up having to play our old skip's team for the last spot. We won, and were headed to Nationals!

Emilia and I also played in a fun women's spiel this month (as part of the USWCA Circuit Event).

February 2010 -

We had a practice day in Madison against some men from one of the Men's national qualifiers. We learned a lot that day, and I wish we would have had more opportunities to play and practice this way during the year.

The games...the training...the preparation...the practice....all lead to the big show in Fargo... U.S. Women's Nationals (to be covered in my next blog entry ~ because my lunch hour is up, and I have a lot of work to do today...I promise it will not take me 9 months to make my next post)

Give me a "T"... T !!!

Give me a "T"... T !!!
Give me an "E" ... E !!!
Give me an "A" ... E !!!
Give me an "M" ... E !!!

What's that spell!?! TEAM!!!

We have a team!!! A team of dedicated, motivated, goal-oriented curlers, who are going to the top! This is crazy....
I know, "crazy," I have to stop saying that. My friends would agree that I should also stop overusing words like
surreal
amazing
unreal
unbelievable
surreal
surreal
surreal...

But really...how can I cut those words out of my vocabulary at this point? Maybe it's because it really hasn't "hit" me yet.
I mean come on!!!

• Working with a coach who has coached national, champion, world champion and OLYMPIC curlers


• Meeting a Skip who is motivated and dedicated, and sets her goals high


• Getting to chat with our team 2nd, who also seems great! Definitely as crazy as I am when it comes to the "want" in this whole competitive curling thing (she may even be crazier - I drive 1 hr 10 min to curl league...she drove 3 hrs one way - she's got me beat)


• Our Skip lining up our 4th teammate last week.

Things are all starting to fall in place. Ever few days there is something new and wonderful that comes to light!!!

Now...I need to practice, practice, practice. I wish there was a way to get on the ice more than once a week right now! As much as I love summer, I am looking forward to my home club getting ice in October. :)

Once a week practice will have to do for now I guess. This past Thursday in Poynette Spring League, I got to try out my "new-and-improved" delivery. I was pleased. My slide has never felt so balanced and consistent. I had a couple slides where I almost felt like I was floating. I don't think I've quite hit the "sweet spot" quite yet, but I am sooo close.

Starting out, I was soooo nervous. My spring league team knew I had been training with Dex the prior weekend and I was feeling pressure to show some awesomeness. LOL My first shot I lined up a bit outside. I'm pretty sure it was because I didnt' relax in the hack. It was a draw shot, and I ended up a little left of where I wanted to be, but it was okay. The rest of the night, I hit the broom. There was only one time where I "drifted" off the line of delivery after I released the stone...and I know exactly what I did to make that happen. The rest of my shots, I was right on line, and even after releasing the stone, I slide right down the line of delivery. I know Dex would have been proud!

I didn't always have exactly the right draw weight, but I was within a few feet in most cases, and with more practice I will get the feel for it. My take-out shots were good. It's nice to be balanced and consistent every time coming out of the hack. Okay..with that said, I have to say that it was not exactly "every" time on Thursday. Out of 16 shots that night I did have one that was "bad"... where I was not balanced coming out of the hack, and although I didn't "give up" on my delivery, it still wasn't a good shot. Pretty sure I rushed the forward motion of my delivery...ugh, the rest of the night I had no problems with my tempo.

Beyond the one "bad" shot, my skip was pleased with my delivery, and I also did a decent job at vice for the night. It's a amazing what a little confidence does when calling line. I wasn't second guessing myself, and didn't miss any calls because I waited too long.

I love this game, I love this game, I love this game!!! ...and I am sooo excited to curl with my competitive team in May, and I am soo excited to curl this upcoming Thursday(tomorrow) in Poynette, where we play a certain Olympic Skip's husband's team...I am sure it will be another great learning experience!

When Everything Starts to Come Together...

At Poynette league last week, our team curled better than the prior week. The score, however, did not reflect that. We lost...BIG.

The good thing about loosing big, was that I got an early start on my drive. I left Poynette a little after 8 PM, with an ETA of 11:50 in St. Paul, according to my GPS. When I left, it was pouring rain. I got on the highway into one shiny, wet lane bordered by orange barrels. Ugh! Rain and construction to slow my late-night trip. Wonderful!

Called the hubby for a weather report, and he said it looked like I had about a half hour's worth of rain ahead, and smooth sailing after that. I only wish he could have given me a better outlook on the construction forecast. :)

The drive seeemed like it took forever. I was nervous and anxious to curl, and excited! Why does it seem like a drive with an exciting destination takes FOREVER!?!

I have to thank my buddy Brett for letting me crash at his place, and for waiting up for a late-night arrival. ...and making sure there was a box of cereal for me so I could eat before what happeded to be one of the longest, most exhausting, fun days of my life. :) I crashed hard that night, but slept like crap because I was sooo anxious/nervous/excited for the next day.

I got to the club Friday morning around 9:30 AM (with an unknown ETA of finishing up around 11 PM that night)

I laced up my NEW AWESOME SHOES that were waiting for me, and headed out on the ice to slide.

Dex is an AMAZING coach. I had no idea what to expect, if I had incredibly high expectations, he would easily have exceded them. Dex broke every piece of my delivery down into small pieces and we spent time tweaking each one. That day we worked on my delivery/line of delivery, body position, hand position, arms, hips, shoulders, wrist, release...

Coach was impressed. He said I was very "coachable"... He would tell me a correction to make, and I would do it...and it would stick. We accomplished more that weekend than he had expected. It was exciting. My delivery is almost a "P" for perfect. (I got 3 Ps that weekend by the way)

I cannot wait to play league on Thursday.

I also got a chance to meet a prospective teammate. I will be playing with her and another teammate in the Summer Spiel in May. I am excited. We've started communicating by email and facebook...and are looking to set some goals and come up with a tentative plan for the year.

I am so excited. I know we are going to do great things! After this weekend with Dex, I am confident that with hard work and dedication, I have what it takes to be part of a winning team and make it to the top!

Ah, the Smell of the Ice

I have always loved the smell of ice. My Mom always tells the story of figure skating lessons when I was 3 years old. While the rest of the class was working on their grape-vines, I was bent over licking the ice. So, my love affair with the ice began many years ago. Who knew it would lead to curling.

It had been 8 days since they melted the ice at Kettle Moraine Curling Club...it felt like it had been weeks. So, it was nice to get on the ice for Spring League at Poynette last night.

We curled a marathon 17 ends last night. In the 8 week league, there are 7 teams on 2 sheets of ice for 2 shifts. Each week, one team has a double-header. We got to get ours out of the way the first night. It was nice, because it gave us a chance to play on both sheets of ice (the ice is a bit different from our home ice). It also gave us more ice time with our 'new' team. I have played a handful of games with our skip, as a lead in mixed play...but last night was the first night the other two on our rink have ever met the skip. We had a lot of ends to work on figuring things out.

Our first game, we played catch up...and scored 5 in the 7th end to tie the game at 9-9. Coming back without the hammer, we were unable to steal to win.

~Then we had a 10 minute break for a quick drink...and a quick visit with our opponents~

Our second game, we played catch up again, and scored 4 in the 7th to bring us to 1 behind. (9-8). We stole 1 in the 8th to take us into an extra end. We weren't able to steal to win in that game either, but it was a great game.

We are excited for next week! We play the early shift, which will give us some time after to snack and socialize...and them I'm off to St. Paul for my training weekend!!!! I can't wait!!!

But Who's Counting!?!

4...6...14

4 days since they shut down the compressors and melted our ice
6 days till Spring League in Poynette starts
14 more days till I'm in St. Paul...but who's counting.

Me! I cannot wait to get back on the ice next week, and I'm sooooo unbelievably excited to get up to St. Paul and prove I can do this!

It's the Little Things

It's amazing how the little things can make such a big difference. I had a friend take some photos of my delivery yesterday a lunch, and I posted them on facebook when I got back to my office. Some of them were a little blurry because we didn't have a big enough flash on the camera...but it was good enough to see some things I hadn't noticed about my delivery.

Within a couple hours I had a message from a curling friend with some comments and suggestions. Tim is an excellent curler and instructor, and I appreciate his advise. I'm always happy to get advice on improving my technique and game. There were a few things he pointed out that I hadn't realized I was doing. So, when I practiced today, I focused on making a couple adjustments.

The biggest change I noticed, came from a very slight adjustment...how I held on to the rock during delivery and release. I knew that I should have the rock handle somewhere aroud 10 or 2 o'clock when sliding, and release at 12:00... but in the photos, every picture had my wrist bent and the handle at 3 or 9 o'clock. I was really amazed when I made the adjustment, and turning and releasing the stone felt effortless! That, and I noticed the stone seemed to be rotating at a better rate than I normally throw (normally I think I get a little too much spin). It was definitely something I'm going to need to think about for a while as I do it, until my muscle memory is corrected and it becomes natural.

Other things I worked on were keeping my shoulders parallel to the ice while I'm in the hack, and I worked for a while sliding without a stone or brush. I also did quite a bit of sweeping practice...my 4-year-old can run a "little rock" down the ice, release at the hog line and almost get it to the house. I swept 12 little rocks in a row, hog to house, with no break between. That was quite a sweeping workout! (which I need...and I LOVE sweeping, so I'll have to make sure to do this a lot next fall)

I also noticed myself that I tend to turn in my back toe when sliding, and I think that causes me to drift and to slow down. When I concentrated on pointing it straight back, it seemed to work better for me.

I appreciate any helpful hints and advice! Thank you to all my curling friends who are willing to give it!