Curling Association move a slap in the face to Wisconsin
The United States Curling Association (USCA) on Friday announced its official move from Stevens Point, Wisconsin to Eagan, Minn. If you try to look on a map for it, it is one of dozens of cookie-cutter Twin Cities suburbs.
The United States Curling Association, which is having about the same amount of luck getting longtime curlers to call it “USA Curling” as the Forest Service has had getting Taylor County residents to call Miller Dam the Chequamegon Waters Flowage, is the national governing body of curling.
Like so many decisions made in professional sports, the USCA’s move to the Twin Cities metro area was all about money and prestige. Their goal is to make curling a money sport in the United States and are willing to sacrifice the sport’s soul to make that happen.
One can easily imagine the discussion in the board room as they white-boarded ways to have curling move to the ranks of tier one sports while being headquartered in a tier three city.
Adding further insult to the injury of moving the national headquarters of the sport from Wisconsin, is that the USCA is celebrating the fact they they have jumped in bed with the Minnesota Vikings.
The new headquarters is housed in the Innovation Center located at the center of the Viking Lakes campus, and will be adjacent to the Minnesota Vikings headquarters and training facility Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center. In a release announcing the move, the USCA states: “This strategic relocation offers synergies among all campus partners and stakeholders.”
Apparently the curling association has decided that the Vikings franchise is the one to emulate when seeking national titles. Let’s hope when it comes to competition, the USCA’s new trophy case doesn’t match the empty one at the Viking’s headquarters.
The goal of the United States Curling Association is to grow the sport of curling in the United States and to make American curlers competitive in the international level. It is unfortunate that the policy makers at the curling association felt it was necessary to move from the heart of Wisconsin to a soulless St. Paul suburb to make that happen. It is likewise unfortunate that Wisconsin seemingly did not mount a challenge to fight to keep the curling association here. To borrow a line from “Men With Brooms” the decision “represents all that is corrupt with God’s greatest game.”
The curling association needs to use care in its drive to raise the profile of the sport in the United States that along the way it does not alienate the many thousands of curlers who have sustained and grown the sport for many decades.
In the drive to corporatize and monetize the sport, the curling association must not forget its roots as a scrappy, quirky sport with an admittedly odd scorekeeping method and where the goals of fair play and camaraderie among competitors is as important as winning and losing. Ignoring the sport’s roots and making a rush to the soulless suburban lights is a slap in the face to curlers everywhere.
