St. Paul Cash

Team Potter is getting ready to hit the ice for our first major event of the curling season--the St. Paul Cash Spiel! The bonspiel is broken into seperate men's and women's events this year. We take the ice at 10:30 on Friday morning. You can watch us in person at the St. Paul Curling Club or online at http://www.stpaulcashspiel.org/ . Cheer loud!

Curling Clinic

Yesterday, Jamie and I teamed up with our two former Olympic team mates to do a little curling clinic for some new curlers—from beginner to 1-year curlers. It was a learning experience for us all in that we had never done a small group instruction before and it was fun to be able to share what we have learned with other curlers interested in the sport. We started out with some instruction and drills and then ended with a 3-end game pitting the 1-year team against the newbie team while we coached. The team with prior experience definitely had the upper hand and it showed in the score, but it was great fun. Plus we got to curl on the championship ice made for us in St. Paul because of the recent World Senior & Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, where, if you had the chance to watch some of the games, you saw some excellent world-class curling.

Looking towards 2011-2012

Team Potter is excited to be returning to the ice for the 2011/2012 season.

Where have we been?

The team took a season break in 2009/2010. The following year, Jamie and I formed a team with a couple of ladies entering the womens curling scene while Laura and Jackie were on maternity leave. Our new one year lineup competed at the 2011 USA Curling National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota where we came out in the top 4 of the round-robin, beat the defending champions in the 3-4 page playoff and ultimately finished 3rd. It was a great season! Jamie and my decision to compete was last-minute and I'm glad we went for it. I don't know if I've ever put more concentration in to such a short period of practice time prior to the U.S. Nationals playoffs, but I learned a lot about how far quality practice can get you and how important it is to have the right kind of chemistry and communication with your teammates both on and off the ice.

For this next season, it's the four of us again but we're changing it up a bit. Laura will be playing as alternate and so we're bringing in Steph Sambor to play front-end. Welcome to Team Potter Steph!

Plans are beginning to take shape for next year's practice and bonspiel schedule. We are looking to step it up a notch and have quite a few games under our belts by the time nationals rolls around. We'll be sure to post our schedule on our blog as we finalize it.

Mixed Nationals in Medford!

Starting Sunday, March 22, I'll be curling with Ryan, Kroy Nernberger, and Becca Wood at the Mixed Nationals in Medford.  It would be great to have a house full of fans cheering on the home team!  Email us at wisconsin@usacurl.org.  We'd love to hear from you!  Also, you can follow the action at usacurl.org/curlingrocks/.  Thanks for all your support!

Thank you!

My team is amazing! I can't be too upset by how the Trials turned out. It wasn't our best performance of the year and that's fine. I have never had so much fun curling with any other team and I am grateful for the time that I got to spend with my team this year. From summer teamwork sessions in Medford to Mixed Doubles in a beautiful cabin in Two Harbors, I couldn't have put anything more into this team or expected them to give me any more than they did. Thank you all!!

And the support couldn't have been better! I have five new families: the Potters, Haskells, Lemkes, Johnsons and the Meullers! Thanks:)

Post-season wrap-up

A tough week in Denver...but no regrets, because we tried our hardest. If we look at the silver lining, we're still a young team and there will be another chance in 4 years. Plus, we can spend time with our friends and family who have sort of been put on hold this past season. And, my hubby and I are getting a puppy in a few weeks and I'm excited to watch it grow up!

I have to say thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors for making this one of the best seasons ever! Without your support, it would have been a struggle to get to the bonspiels and practice and prepare as much as we did.

Also, a huge THANKS to our fans, friends, and family who were always with us, even those of you who are just becoming fans of curling. It's been great to read the posts and emails that you have sent and to hear by word-of-mouth the encouraging words during our season. You all rock! :)

We hope to continue to update this blog even though we're heading into the off-season now. We'll have pics to post soon of the trials and summertime fun!

Olympic Trials Links

Links for fans coming to Denver:
Schedule of Events
Discounts on things to do in Denver

Links for fans at home:
Watch the live scoring
Watch the semi's and finals on NBC Universal Sports
Email the teams at the trials