June 5, 2006
Chicago's West named USA Curling president
(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - Georgia West of Lake Forest, Ill., assumed the role of president of the United States Curling Association (USA Curling) on May 1 after being elected at the spring board meeting in Chicago.
West, 62, becomes just the fifth woman president of the USCA and the 47th overall. Most recently, she served as the association's vice president of marketing and operations since 2004. She replaces Mark Swandby of Madison, Wis., who served as president from 2004-2006.
West began curling in 1985 at the Exmoor Curling Club in Highland Park, Ill. She graduated from Chicago's Loyola University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting.
Previously, she served as president of the Illinae Curling Association (1995-96) and of the United States Women's Curling Association (1998-99). In addition, she worked as a director for the Illinois Curling Association (1997-2000) and has served on the USCA Board of Directors since 2000 representing Illinois.
As an athlete, West won the USWCA National Bonspiel three times (1998, '99 and 2000) and was the Illinois State Championship runner-up in 1998. West and her husband, Henry, have two children - George and Ruth.
As president, West has the following goals:
* Aggressively explore new revenue sources
* Develop more qualified coaches for juniors
* Establish a committee responsible for implementing programs to facilitate adaptive curling
* Establish a committee responsible for implementing programs to facilitate arena curling
* Continue to improve the website focusing on providing timely, accurate and relevant information for our stakeholders.
"The USCA has changed dramatically in the last four years in the number of new clubs, 15 percent more registered individual club curlers and over 30 non-director curlers involved in the day-to-day operations of the USCA by participating on one or more USCA committees," West said. "I thank everyone for donating their time and talents to our organization."
Elected to the four vice president spots were R. Chris Moore (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), Chris Sjue (Fargo, N.D.), Jon Wilson (Escondido, Calif.) and James Pleasants (Seattle). Moore and Sjue were re-elected as vice presidents of Competitive Programs and Member Services respectively. This is the first tenure for both Wilson and Pleasants, who both previously served as USCA board members.
The USCA currently has 138 member clubs with several more in the planning stages throughout the nation. The USCA is the National Governing Body of the sport of curling in the United States, and strives to grow the sport and win medals in world championships and Olympic Winter Games.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies, Hilton and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
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For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, rick.patzke@usacurl.org, 715-344-1199