Author: Will Dimmit

*Note: Darryl Horsman is the USCA representative for the Western region, which includes the PNWCA, MOPAC and Alaska regions. We’ll be posting his updates here for the members of our region*

Good morning everyone! I hope this note finds everyone well and that you are in the Christmas spirit – the big day is fast approaching! Whatever your beliefs or practice – I hope that you get to spend time with loved ones over the holidays.

We had a Board meeting 12/5 that I wanted to provide a recap on and some other goings on at the USCA.

First of, we hope that you are all finding that Interim Dean Gemmell is doing a fairly good job so far. He has engaged in a few town halls already, made the USCA’s appearance known at a few Arena championships, and has attended a new club opening recently. As we all recognized, the leadership and the support staff of the USCA needed to do a better job openly communicating to the membership and to be actively involved at events that weren’t just high performance or Olympic. Also you should be seeing more communication – with a significantly better tone from the USCA via social media which again is another avenue that needed an overhaul. Organizationally, the staff that is at the USCA have all stepped up in amazing ways to assist in the rebuilding and changing the culture after recent events which we can all be thankful for.

Due to expenses and an unclear revenue picture (dues) – the USCA has tabled hiring a DEI Director which was on the list of things to do until a future date. In the interim, Dean, Bret, and myself have engaged with the DEI Committee and have had a couple of good meetings. The hope is that we can use the talents and input from this group to help steward thoughtful change until the time comes to hire an actual DEI Director. We are thankful that both groups have come to the table solely to help curling, DEI, and the USCA to be better.

From some of the discussions with the DEI Committee and a few others, at this latest meeting the Board worked on and approved a USCA Core Value statement. A number of years ago I was on a committee to redo the Mission Statement of the USCA. I believe the Core Value statement does a better job communicating the guiding principles the Board and the USCA must lean moving forward. Watch for this to be presented to the membership shortly. I also believe that these core values will provide the membership another way to hold the organization accountable – hopefully not from an “I gotcha” perspective, but maybe from a shared understanding and agreement of purpose and expectation.

We are almost ready to have the Governance 4.0 committee announced. The plan is to have 10 curler representatives and 5 athlete representatives on the committee. We have tried to get a broad cross-section of the curling community on the committee; from arena to dedicated, big clubs to small club representation, and we tried to get someone from each member region. While the organizing committee is still reaching out to those who volunteered (there were 32 who did), from the West, the Board have highlighted Mikhail Simin from San Francisco, Kris Klinkhammer from Portland, and Mimi Stevinson from Denver to be on the committee. I suspect the committee with be in touch with those to confirm they are still wanting the job.

The plan for a CEO search moves forward. What we are trying to do with a small committee from the Board, is to choose a company to assist with the CEO search. As you may know, the company that was used to find Jeff Plush and others, was a company that most other NGB’s have used – we may not go that route again. Armed with all the previous CEO search data from Roger Rowlett from the GNCC, the new CEO Search committee is busily working on determining what USCA needs in a CEO and what company will be used to assist in finding quality individuals. The plan is to have those details hammered out before January – and maybe we might have some candidates to vet by February. As this progresses I’ll share updates with the group.

Finally – In January/February we will be looking to replace the three open Directors positions, two WCF representatives as their terms end, and potentially one Regional Director position as the clubs that are no longer with the GNCC will need to have their person. For now – the remaining Directors and Chair are working closely with each other to make sure this ship continues to move in the right direction. More to come on this in the new year.

As always, if you wish to discuss anything, I encourage you to email me. I am here to help. I hope that all of your clubs are doing well and have had time to heal from the recent events and are encouraged by what they see and hear. The curling community is passionate, resilient, and we are able to do much together.

I wish you all the very best this holiday season and for prosperity and health for the New Year.

Thank you and Good Curling!
Darryl Horsman