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07-28-14 01:26PM |
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AlanMacNeill
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Sep 2011
Location:
Posts: 1064 |
You're KIDDING ME, USCA....
"We don't have any money to send teams to the WUG, so we aren't gonna...somebody else is picking a team and sending them"
That's the paraphrase of the USCA release that just came across facebook.
So, the USCA can't even afford to perform it's CONTRACTUAL DUTY as the United States governing body for Curling (seriously, check it in the Ted Stevens Act...it's the USCA's job to do this), but it can hire more and more coaches for a smaller and smaller pool of competitors in the HPP?
If there was a way for me to curl with my club this upcoming season without sending the USCA dime one for dues, I would do so.
Damned near criminal.
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07-28-14 05:06PM |
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Clawdad3
Knee-Slider
Registered: Jan 2014
Location:
Posts: 4 |
Well said Allan.
There have been a lot of gut shots to curlers trying to break in to the inner circle, and this is another one. It seems they've forgotten the value of the process. Taking away the playdown removes the challenge to the chosen few and restricts the opportunity for others to gain experience thru the process.
Very difficult to stomach the restricted approach to the resources available. It's starting to feel like a clique determined to keep out the unknown.
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EC
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07-28-14 09:53PM |
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Mike54321
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Oct 2012
Location:
Posts: 12 |
There is no dues going to the HP or the USCA and most programs are self supporting and not funded by the USCA. This includes the USCA Nationals and the World Curling Tour. Your greatest fear is that all the funding will go to the HP program and no money to other programs which will eventually no longer exist. It is impossible as most programs are self supporting. I wouldn't worry about it.
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07-29-14 12:51AM |
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dbsdbs
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2013
Location:
Posts: 812 |
Regardless of where the money for HP is coming from, do we really need so many coaches/administrators for a not very large pool of competitors? Is supporting teams for WUG really less important that paying coaches/administrators? Or might we get by with fewer non-athletes on the payroll?
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07-29-14 02:09PM |
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curlky
Drawmaster
Registered: Oct 2013
Location:
Posts: 559 |
Mike54321, so if none of our dues go to the USCA or HP, then what exactly are my dues being used for?
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07-29-14 03:54PM |
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jhcurl
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Sep 2002
Location: US - CT
Posts: 1431 |
An explanation with more information was posted on FB by USA curling.
Additional information for those seeking clarification:
Due to limited resources, competing needs, the high cost of participation (over $40,000), and other event-related factors, the USCA has elected not to send teams to the 2015 Winter World University Games (WWUGS) set for Feb. 4-14 in Grenada, Spain, and thus is not staging any playdowns or team selection events. This decision was made during the USCA’s FY15 budgeting process, as the organization sought to mitigate a potential financial deficit in the face of a mid-June deadline to submit a $10,000 non-refundable event deposit.
BTI Events, the managing partner for the United States International University Sports Federation, supports inclusion of U.S. teams in the event and is working directly with eligible U.S. athletes as determined by BTI to arrange participation at the athlete’s expense.
The USCA intends to continue to seek funding to support teams for the 2017 WWUGs and will continue providing resource support for top junior and adult competitive athletes via the organization’s High Performance Program.
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07-29-14 04:57PM |
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Alice
Swing Artist
Registered: Feb 2012
Location:
Posts: 324 |
"Greatest fear"? Here it is:
http://usskiteam.com/sites/default/...inal%5B1%5D.pdf
USCA has now a funded national team with paid coaches and other staff to whom all "elite" players must bow under "coach discretion" at every turn. To be "selected" for worlds or Olympics the "right athletes" must pass through "coach discretion" starting with meeting training, fitness and diet plans. Forget having too much white hair or being preoccupied with family, school or work during "mandatory" events. Hello to the many codes of conduct and ethics oaths to make USOC and other sponsors happy for how to look, what to wear, and what to say. Goodbye unfiltered social media, heart "EB" patches at any national competition, "unprofessional" video or photos, and local club and team sponsors' ads at national activities.
Team A, B, and then C, D..... all under constant monitoring by coaches whose livelihoods depend on caring more about medals than individual curlers who will all be reduced to fungible pieces of meat.
It means the end of any real team cohesion on or off ice. Forget about the spirit of curling. World level matches will not be curling anymore. Just gladiator shows for a Roman coliseum with ever bigger money changing hands away from the field of play. And, the TV audience will see all those "athletes" and think curling is not a sport they can do or would be welcome to try. What irony.
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07-29-14 09:01PM |
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Mowgli
Knee-Slider
Registered: Feb 2014
Location:
Posts: 9 |
Not that long ago, a round faced fresh skip named John Shuster won the gold medal at the WUGs. He then built on that success and on to qualify for the Olympics (twice). I would guess winning that tournament and gaining that international experience as a skip was huge for him.
Flash forward to today- the USCA doesn't even bother sending a team to compete. I'd be very concerned about the future if I was a competitor in a USA playdown that doesn't lead to the Olympics. Sad days.
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07-30-14 08:27AM |
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AlanMacNeill
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Sep 2011
Location:
Posts: 1064 |
Well, you see...there's the rub...
The guy who got the experience and became our best Skip (as proven by WINNING TRIALS...he proved it on the ice, not the committee room) was not a thin, athletic, guided by coaches since he was 2, no independent thought, automaton...he was a CURLER.
We can't have that anymore...we might not win GOLD every time...
So of course we're shutting down the avenues for someone not in the Chosen Path to learn how to win at an international level...we can't run the risk of the Annointed Ones failing to be our team anymore.
I can hardly wait for our team to not even qualify for 2018...
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07-30-14 01:39PM |
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Mike54321
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Oct 2012
Location:
Posts: 12 |
I'm going to reverse my opinion. I think the biggest problem with any centralized team is that there is a "monopoly on philosophy". Once the USCA sets certain requirements then every other team is forced to follow even if they don't think it is the right way. So if there are certain fitness tests being done at the combine even if they are not relevant. Other teams will be forced to follow them. They might force self formed teams to go through the combine or they don't get funding if they don't hold the same standards as the USCA.
Major League Baseball doesn't have a combine so different teams run different kinds of tryout camps and different scouts have their own idea on what makes a major league player.
In the NFL they have a combine so every team has to focus on the 40 yard dash and the bench press even if they don't think these are relevant to football ability.
The USCA was more like Major League Baseball before the HPP.
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08-05-14 07:58PM |
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jamcan
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340 |
Very sad to see your country taking this direction. Canada's strength lies in quantity. This, like hockey, comes from a large grass roots infrastructure of clubs and competitive events that do a far better job developing players than subjective, coach driven programs ever will.
Sorry to say, but I foresaw this, and even mentioned something to this effect on this sire, several years back when your governing body hired the people it now has in place. Their not building programs or players, they're building empires.
You can change this, but it would involve a massive upheaval in your political structure and the cooperation of the clubs and the competitive players boycotting the program. Sadly, I don't see anyone or any group in your country prepared or willing to take that stance.
__________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. Thompson
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