Thursday, April 7, 2011

GB's Head Coach for Wheelchair Curling on his way April 16th.

Alberta's Tony Zummack has finally received all the paperwork necessary for him to take up residence in Scotland as Great Britains Head Coach - Wheelchair Curling.

He will be leaving on April 16th and staying in the Stirling area. His wife will join him in July and his daughter hopes to be accepted into Stirling University.

A lengthy delay in processing the paperwork for his change of residence meant that he was unable to take over the Scottish team in time for the 2011 World Championships in Prague. He was able to meet many of the players at the recent Scottish Championships, won by Aileen Neilson's rink, present skip of the National Team.

Curlers interested in being considered for the British national team training program have been asked to submit applications, and the next 8 member national squad, which presently includes the five who won silver in Prague, plus Rosemary Lenton, Jim Gault and Jim Sellars, will be selected from those applicants based in part on performances at the regular on-ice training sessions Zummack intends to hold at least once a week in Stirling and at other venues if available.

Zummack will be Team Scotland's coach for the Worlds, and Team Great Britain's coach for the Paralympics in Sochi in 2014. Though only Scots have made the British team, Zummack says he will ensure that all Britain's wheelchair curlers have access to an opportunity to demonstrate their ability.

"Giving as many wheelchair curlers as possible the opportunity to learn and improve will create  long term growth in the entire program," he told me.

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