Live On Stage!
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Israelis On Ice from page 8
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on?' And we took it from there
At the same time, Gabrielle Coleman,
38, of San Francisco, who serves on the
board of directors of the U.S. Curling
Association, was writing a congratula-
tions letter of her own to Pack, with the
same result.
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With these players in place, the goal was
set: field a team, shoot for the European
Championships in May, qualify for the
annual World Championships in 2015
and get to the Winter Olympics in 2018.
"We have to get to a World
Championship before 2017:' he said.
"Our odds are extremely minimal, but
there's always a chance.
"Some countries pay millions of
dollars just for curling teams alone.
They have national organizations. The
players have no jobs; they just practice
curling; he said. "But if we field a team
and we're going to a championship, in
theory we have an equal chance as any
of those other competitors. If you just
get a team one year that's really hot and
gelling at the right time, you can find
yourself in the World Championship
pretty quickly:"
Coleman, whose team just won a U.S.
regional qualifier and will compete with
10 teams at the U.S. Nationals, said, "A
good recruiting and training program
will be key."
Pack began recruiting in the U.S.,
starting in Chicago Jan. 29, then vis-
ited Windsor, Ontario, on Super Bowl
weekend before going to New York and
Boston. Fifteen curlers showed up for
the tryouts in Windsor.
"Along with the turnout of 20 curlers
in Chicago, we are well on our way to
find the necessary talent to craft togeth-
er the national teams," Lutz said. "We
need to find people, bring them togeth-
er, change or add their citizenship. We
have people at the World Federation,
the Canadian Curling Association and
the U.S. Curling Association"
Coleman said Pack's recruiting visit
"will help not only to identify the cur-
rent top Jewish curlers, but also to
encourage more Jews to try curling. I
think the traditional culture of curling
is a good fit for Israelis and Jews around
the world because it places a lot of value
on community, volunteerism and edu-
cation:"
If and when the teams are fielded,
team members will train on their own
and agree to meet at certain times to
train together, Lutz said.
And one of his team members
might be his brother, Brad, a 27-year-
old attorney from Detroit. "Jeff and
I currently compete together in a
weekly league over at a curling club in
Windsor; he said.
Growing up with two brothers (they
have a younger brother, David, 24, in
Ann Arbor), Brad said they were always
competing for something.
"As I got older, my competitive nature
continued regardless of whether it was
pick-up football, golf or poker; he said.
"Curling may have started due to its
novelty, but it wasn't long before I was
hooked:"
Brad has competed in the Olympic
Regional Qualifiers and in two College
Curling Nationals as a Michigan State
University student.
If picked for the team, he will get
dual citizenship and, because of his age,
will serve in the Israeli Army Reserves.
"While the thought of fighting in any
war is incredible to fathom, I am weigh-
ing this factor against the amazing
opportunity of competing for Israel:' he
said.
Once a team is fielded, they will
all travel to Israel together to become
dual-citizens, Lutz said. "We're going to
do a huge event with the WCF, and we
want to get people jazzed. At the 2010
Olympics, there were 200,000 Israeli
viewers watching late night curling on
Sport 5, the national TV sports net-
work."
Some, but not all, expenses will be
covered by the ICF "because they are
recognized as an Olympic sport and it
falls under the greater Israel Olympic
banner; he said.
"In Israel, you get partnered with
an Olympic summer sport, and we are
partnered with pistol shooting. The
World Curling Federation also provides
funds because we are a developmental
country, and the Federation wants to
promote the spore'
As far as funding, Pack said the ICF
receives "very little to no governmen-
tal funding, and we have no dedicated
curling-specific facility. These are detri-
mental factors locally but we are doing
all we can to overcome that.
"The people that have come out of
the woodwork like Jeff and Gabrielle are
diamonds in the rough and people that
we welcome into our curling family"
Sure the odds are long, but to most,
it's not the winning that counts, it's the
getting there.
This year, the 2014 Israeli team
consists of male figure skater Alexei
Bychenko, pairs skaters Evgeni
Krasnopolski and Andrea Davidovich,
speed skater Vladislav Bykanov and
skier Virgile Vandeput.
If the stars align and the rock's aim
is true, you might see Jeff and Brad
Lutz, Gabrielle Coleman and five other
Jewish curlers working their sliding
shoes on PyeongChang's Olympic ice in
2018.
❑
For more information, contact Simon Pack
at simon@curlinq.co.il.