USCA: 2007-2008 Press Releases

08-28-08 – USA Curling announces Team of the Year, Athletes of the Year.

IN BRIEF:

2008 World Junior gold medalists named 2008 USA Curling Team of the Year

Minnesota's Allison Pottinger named Female Athlete of the Year

Wheelchair curler Augusto Perez of New York name Male Athlete of the Year

STEVENS POINT, Wis. - After winning the first world junior men's gold medal since 1984, the Chris Plys team has been named the 2008 USA Curling Team of the Year. Eight-time U.S. national champion Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and 2008 world wheelchair bronze medalist Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.) have been name Female Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively.

Plys, 21, (Duluth, Minn.) and teammates Aanders Brorson (Duluth, Minn.), Matt Perushek (Eveleth, Minn.), Matt Hamilton (McFarland, Wis.) and Daniel Plys (Duluth, Minn.) won the 2008 U.S. junior national title and fought hard at the 2008 World Juniors to bring home the gold for the U.S.

"I know it definitely means a lot to all of us to be named the USA Curling Team of the Year," Plys said. "I know, for me, it is really cool to receive something like this especially with all the good teams like Pete (Fenson) and Craig (Brown) and Jason (Larway)...teams that I tired to model myself after. To be recognized for our accomplishment is something that means a lot."

Team USA finished the round robin with a 7-2 record and posted wins over Norway in the Page Playoffs 3-4 game and Canada in the semifinal to advance to the gold-medal match against Sweden. The Americans came out on top, 7-5, for the coveted world title.

"I am extremely honored that our team won the Team of the Year," Perushek said. "We all really appreciate the support that we received from fellow curlers throughout our journey to becoming world champions. We went into the year wanting to make it back to Worlds and medaling there. We worked extremely hard all year to prepare ourselves. Once we made it back to Worlds we set our sights on winning. After the round robin, we found ourselves in the playoffs. We knew that if we played well that we could win, and we just went out there and made our shots in the 3-4 game, semifinals, and finals. This award shows us how proud USA Curling is of our accomplishment, but it also recognizes the hard work that went into our World Championship. We thank the USCA and curlers throughout our country for this great honor."

In addition, Hamilton was honored with the male sportsmanship award at World Juniors, the first time since 1985 that a male American won this award.

Pottinger, 35, is a member of the Debbie McCormick rink, which made history as the first team to win three straight U.S. national titles after winning the 2008 event in Hibbing, Minn., in February.

"It's fantastic," Pottinger said of the award. "I was very surprised, quite honestly. I don't know if part of that is because we didn't perform as well at Worlds as we had hoped or what. You know, you kind of get into the mindset that when the team doesn't do well, you're not expecting people to think about individual performances. It was just very unexpected."

Pottinger and Team McCormick went on to finish sixth at the 2008 World Women's Championship in Vernon, British Columbia, in March. "It was one of those weeks when the breaks didn't go our way, especially for poor Debbie. But to come back and then be recognized in this way, it kind of sheds some light on the fact that this wasn't our best Worlds, but people know what we can do. I don't try to be the flashiest third in the world, just the most consistent third. I want do my job and leave Debbie with open hits versus runback doubles."

With her eight national titles, Pottinger is the most decorated female curler in U.S. history. "I also want people to realize that, yes, this is an individual award, and I'm thrilled to receive it, but I couldn't have won this without my team. I couldn't have good shooting percentages without the people around me and in front of me doing well," Pottinger said.

Despite her long list of achievements this is the first time Pottinger has been named Female Athlete of the Year. She was a member of the association's Team of the Year in 2003 and 1999 and is a member of the lone American women's team to win a world title (2003, Team McCormick).

With the recent birth of her second daughter, Pottinger will surely have her hands full this season with Olympic Team Trials on the horizon, a busy home, a full-time job and a husband (Doug Pottinger) who also is planning to play down this season.

"It will definitely be more challenging this year, because Doug is playing down as well. It's not just my schedule that we're working around, it's both schedules. But it helps that I'm on leave (from General Mills) until Dec. 1," said Pottinger, who works as a senior consumer insights analyst. "I won't have the added stress of work until December. And even then we have two and a half months to work it all out before the Trials. We've already sent calendars out to both sets of grandparents, hinting that if there is a weekend they would like to volunteer, to please throw their hands in the air. They've been great, though. And our daycare provider has also been very accommodating as well. Everybody knows this year is a big year for both Doug and I. Everyone's helping out.

Perez, 35, was a member of the James Pierce rink that also cracked into the USA Curling history book this season. The Pierce team became the first U.S. team to win a medal at a world wheelchair competition. In addition, Perez is the first wheelchair athlete to be selected as the association's athlete of the year in any category.

Perez battled cancer for more than eight years beating it three times after having a less than 30 percent survival rate. He has represented the U.S. at three world wheelchair championships as well as the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games after taking up the sport just three years ago.

"I would like to say that it should have been the Team of the Year award because the team success was the work of the five players, coach and support staff," Perez said. "Back in 2006 in Torino at the Paralympics, Jimmy Jam (James Joseph) and I were watching the Canadian team getting a gold medal, playing the anthem, etcetera, and Jam said to me that has to be awesome, and I said 'yes.' Then I said to him 'train with me and take every practice and game seriously, I will promise you a medal within two years. I will not promise which one, but we will medal. Back last February in Switzerland when we were getting the medal I turned to Jam and said quietly, 'Do you remember what I said to you in Torino?' He just smiled,' Perez said.

Perez, who was born in Madrid, Spain, is married with twins. He also competes and excels in many other adaptive sports programs. He has his sights set representing Team USA at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike. The 2010 Olympic Team Trials for Curling are scheduled Feb. 21-28, 2009, in Denver, Colorado, at the Broomfield Events Center.