“It is a fantastic thing for this city, for our athletes, for everybody around the area to rally around curling and the Olympic Movement,” said Adam Andrasko. The only state that sent more athletes to Sochi in 2014 than Minnesota was California. There was a lot of hard work behind the scenes to make a designated Olympic training site a reality as the sport of curling grows. Senator Amy Klobuchar adds, “Curling is just something that has our hearts, and I think it’s gaining, as was noted, American’s hearts as we go on. It’s just such an incredibly interesting sport.” Many Olympian curlers were on hand to try out the facility and curl with fans. It means a lot to have a site to train year round with coaches and fellow athletes. Curler, Andrew Stopera said, “It’s just a good place where all the athletes can come together and learn stuff from the coaches we have here and learn stuff from each other. And, it’s great to get to curl in the middle of August. You don’t get to do that usually.” Curling is a sport that looks easy and just about anyone can learn, but to master is much more difficult. The sport is much more competitive than it seems. Stopera continued, “One of the things that I really love about the sport is to know the competitive nature. Going out there and playing teams at the highest level, playing in national events, playing in these events against some top teams is really good experience.” The Four Seasons Curling Club opened in 2012 and now gives athletes the ability to train on ice year round. It is one of just a few facilities that gives athletes access all year. Stopera is looking forward to the increased popularity of the sport. “I think it’s a good step for curling and we’re moving towards making it more of a, not really a big sport but making it something opposed to hockey and other sports like that you know they have their designated spots and everyone knows about it but to get a designated place for curling, where you know this is where the Olympic teams come and this is where the national teams come is just a great thing for the sport and good for Minnesota to have it here.” The goal is not only to give athletes a top notch facility to hone their craft, but also to help them get better. The United States would like to find themselves back on the podium at the next Olympics. Rick Patzke, the CEO of USA Curling summarized the importance of this new training site: “The Olympic training center is a significant piece of this critical puzzle as we move forward to get USA back to the top of the podium where we belong. This is not about USA curling, it’s about curling in the USA and the pursuit of passionate excellence Thank you, U.S. Olympic committee, Four Seasons Curling Club, Fogerty Arena, City of Blaine, and certainly the state of Minnesota and others for all you are doing to help our athletes achieve their dreams.”
Local Club Named Official U.S. Olympic Training Site
BLAINE, Minn. – (Aug. 20, 2015) – Last week, after years of dedication and hard work, the Four Seasons Curling Club at Fogerty Arena in Blaine was named an official U.S. Olympic training site for curling. It is the 18th Olympic training site in the U.S. and the first in Minnesota.
