Monthly Archives: January 2021

How healthy is the sales funnel for your curling club?



Curling is in the process of maturing as a sport, going from amateur to professional. As we’ve talked about on Rocks Across the Pond, the sport has experienced growing pains since officially becoming part of the Olympic program in 1998. 

When we’ve talked about this professionalization process, we’ve mostly talked about it from the high performance level. However, these growing pains are beginning to be felt at the grassroots level as well.

As curling matures and professionalizes, those of us at the grassroots level need to do the same in our approach to growing the sport by recruiting and retaining new curlers.

Continue reading How healthy is the sales funnel for your curling club?


Nothing is Rotten About Curling in Denmark



In 1998, the Danish women’s curling team took home silver at the Nagano Olympics. They did this despite no dedicated curling rinks anywhere in their country. Since then, curling has grown in the country and Denmark has regularly sent teams to the Olympics. We talk to Danish curling president Henrik Christoffersen and Mads Nørgaard of Team Mikkel Krause about curling in Denmark, how the country is able to attract new curlers and the unique high performance model there.

COVID-19 Halts Danish Worlds Qualifier
Danish Curling Federation
Danish Curling on Facebook
Danish Curling on YouTube
Team Mikkel Krause


USA Curling’s Changing Membership Structure



What does it mean to be a member of USA Curling? What benefits does an individual or club get from membership? That’s now in the process of changing. USA Curling is rolling out a new membership structure where individuals, not just clubs, can join the national organization. In this show, we talk about what that means and the impact it will have on curlers and clubs with Mid-South Curling Club’s Evan Lu and USA Curling CEO Jeff Plush. Evan will also tell us the history of his club and how a small arena club in the south recruits and retains members.

Mid-South Curling Club on Facebook


USA Curling CEO Jeff Plush on How the US Can Develop Sustained Success



USA Curling CEO Jeff Plush was on the job for less than a month before the world changed due to a global pandemic. He joins us to discuss how USA Curling is navigating the pandemic and his plans for the future of the organization. He has high hopes to strengthen the sport in the US at all levels, from grassroots to high performance by drawing on ideas from both inside and outside of curling.

USA Curling Webinar on Diversity & Inclusion


COVID-19 Halts Worlds Qualifier in Denmark – What We Can Learn



The World Championship Qualifiers in Denmark were recently suspended due to a positive COVID-19 test. Despite having similar protocols in place to the proposed Calgary curling bubble, the disease infiltrated the field of just four teams and spread quickly. Danish Curling Federation Chairman Henrik Christoffersen and Mads Nørgaard of Team Krause join us to talk about the lessons we can take away from what happened at the Danish qualifier.

Watch for a show on the history and growth of Danish curling in the near future!
Danish Curling Federation on Facebook
How COVID-19 Spreads at a Curling Event