U.S. wheelchair teams ready for national championship

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) – Wheelchair curling teams across the nation are preparing for the USA Curling Wheelchair National Championship slated Nov. 18-20 at the Utica Curling Club in Utica , N.Y.

Last year marked the first official national wheelchair championship and featured three East Coast teams. The team skipped by Wes Smith won the event and earned the right to represent the U.S. at the 2004 World Wheelchair Championships in Sursee, Switzerland. The team finished fifth and netted six points for the U.S. toward qualifying for the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, where eight teams will compete.

The 2006 Paralympics will mark the first time wheelchair curling is featured as a medal sport. The Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled March 10-19, 2006, in Torino, Italy. Competing nations began accumulating points last year, so the U.S. is in pretty good shape going into the last qualifying event.

The Utica Curling Club is a six-sheet club located at 8300 Clark Mills Road, Whitesboro, N.Y. The club most recently hosted the 2003 USA Curling Men’s and Women’s National Championships. More information about the club can be found at www.uticacurling.org.

Organized wheelchair curling in the United States began in the 1990s at the Granite Curling Club in Seattle. Many of today’s clubs are wheelchair accessible or just need minor modifications to become so.

There are several types of delivery of the stone – one-handed over the side of the wheelchair, two-handed with a delivery stick, and one-handed with a delivery stick.

Teams must be composed of a mix of men and women when competing at the national and world level. No sweeping of the stone is allowed in competition. Rather, athletes rely upon arm strength and true aim. Games at the national and world level are six ends in length in accordance with the World Curling Federation’s rules of play.

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Local contact: Gloria Petrie, Utica Curling Club, 315-853-6486, gapetrie@adelphia.net

For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, 715-344-1199, rickp@curlingrocks.net