You brought your family over from Canada for a job, was there any apprehension in moving your family across the border to another country?
It was interesting because I was just getting started with my career and I was offered the position of director of admission at Herzing College here in the U.S. and that was a big step up. So I came down and took a look at the Madison campus and called home and said, "Hey Ma, pack your bags, we're moving."
Were you concerned that you weren't going to find a place to curl?
Well actually, I knew there was curling in Wisconsin and I was pretty sure there was curling in Madison. It's an interesting story because I moved in the summertime and one of the first things I did after I got our furniture unpacked was to take a look in the yellow pages for a curling club and nothing was listed! Before, I was living in Winnipeg and I was used to having 35 clubs in the city and when I moved to the west side of Madison I learned there was only one club, on the east side, and that they shut the phone off in the summertime to save on expenses so they didn't have a yellow page ad. But I did track it down. And I started curling that same fall.
Your daughter Debbie has mentioned that she practically grew up at the curling club in Madison. Were you able to find a community there, one that was similar to Canada? Is that why your family gravitated there?
I found that the community at the Madison club was even closer than the various clubs I curled at in Canada. There was a lot of people our age that had small children. And my children got to know their children, and everybody got to know each other. It was quite easy to get to know everybody. I probably curled twice a week and went on bonspiels on the weekend. When games weren't on, and I'd be out practicing, my kids would come out and sit on the rocks and I'd push them down the sheet. They really enjoyed that.
How has your experience as a two-time world bronze medalist, on the international stage, helped guide and teach Debbie over the years?
I didn't start competitive curling until 1986 when one of my friends, Steve Brown, decided to change his competitive team and he had a couple spots open and I thought, "Why not give it a try." We went through and won the national championship and went to Toronto that year for the World Championship and won the bronze medal. The very first year we formed the team! And actually, the same thing happened to Debbie in 2003. She had a brand new team she had formed and she won the World Championship in Winnipeg.
Back to 1986, both my kids, Debbie and Donnie, were there and were about twelve years old or so and that's when they really got interested in the competitive aspect of the sport. Just watching her dad on the ice, seeing the crowd cheering around there us on and that kind of stuff. That's when the seed was originally planted for her to get more involved. And she did, with Steve Brown's daughter, Erica, and a couple other junior curlers and started in high school and were very successful winning juniors four years in a row. She really caught the bug.
How long have you coached your daughter? And has she ever been rebellious to her father's instruction or does she take it in stride?
I started curling Debbie the year that she won the world championship in Winnipeg in 2003. Until that time her coach had been my buddy Steve Brown. But even as a teenager she wasn't rebellious. Both my kids have been very easy to raise to very easy to talk to. Debbie and I seem to have the ability to move from family and father and daughter mode into coach and athlete. It's worked out very well. She and the rest of her teammates listen very well, they pay attention and they execute the things that we discuss.
When was it that you knew that Debbie could curl at the Olympic level?
It was very apparent when she became a little older into her teenage years and started curling at the junior level and was quite successful through those years.
What are Debbie's strengths as a skip specifically?
Her strengths are her personality, actually is one of her main strengths. She's able to stay level-headed, cool-headed. She's quite a calm personality. She doesn't get overly excited in different situations. She's able to hold her composure for the two and a half hours she's on the ice, and she's able to discuss the situation with her teammates and not become excited.
With dual roles you're both coach and father, but do you switch into coach-mode only during the match, or do you still get nervous?
You never lose that. As a parent you're always nervous for you kid playing any sport. I try to focus on coaching and helping the team out and paying attention to the whole team as opposed to just one person who's my daughter. It's a whole team effort. But when she's in the hatch throwing a very important shot it is nerve-wracking! During the match, mostly what I do as coach is watch and see how they're playing and make sure their strategy is good. I take a lot of notes for our post-game meeting - to discuss what we could have done better. Also, something I do a lot when I'm coaching at international championships is a lot of scouting.
I know Debbie's rink didn't get the results it wanted at 2009 Worlds, but what do they need to do win a medal next February in Vancouver?
The team has done worlds in the past. The last two years they've been disappointed because they haven't been in the final four. But I know the potential that they have. I've seen them when all cylinders are clicking; I know they can do it. Right now we're looking at some video game footage, maybe bringing in a sports psychologist, we have a real good competitive schedule for the fall to help us prepare, and I'm really excited about the Olympics and I feel very strongly that this team will end up high on the rankings and medal. If we get to a situation where all the athletes are playing to their potential we should do very, very well.
One last question, is there a tinge of regret that the Olympics will be returning to Canada, your motherland, and you're stuck coaching the U.S.? Do old friends call you up and give you a hard time?
Actually, no that's never happened! I do have a lot of curling friends in Canada. But they understand this is where I am and we're playing for the U.S. They're quite congratulatory about the achievement that the girls made in winning the Trials. I do have relatives that live right there in Vancouver and friends across the country that will be watching and cheering us on, even though we'll be playing for the U.S. But they'll be cheering for us only when we're not playing Canada. Then it will be a little less friendly!
