Joe Widmer - Home Club (Frogtown Curling Club and St. Croix Curling Club)

Joe has been curling for about five years now. Like many people, the Team USA run at the 2018 Winter Olympics was when he realized he needed to try curling out for himself. The blend of balance, technique, strategy, and teamwork started to become apparent to him as he watched match after match that year, and he found himself falling in love with the sport before ever having thrown his first rock. His favorite personal moment in curling was playing in the Brainerd Rock ‘n’ Roll Spiel. His team was made up of he and his wife, their 11-year-old son, and his 68-year-old father in law. They lost three games “in record time, but got to show our son an authentic bonspiel experience.” He says it was some of the most fun he’s ever had.

Joe says that his reason for joining the TCCA board is that curling only works when people give back to the sport. He thought about volunteering to cook for the next bonspiel, but then remembered that he can’t cook, and he likes his friends too much to subject them to that, so he gives back where he can.

Some of Joe’s thoughts on hopes and goals for the TCCA moving forward: For curling to continue to grow and be successful, the sport needs to offer something for people at all levels of the sport. If you want to join a social club that just so happens to be connected to a sport, we’ve got a sport for you! If you’re a young person that has competitive aspirations, we’ll make sure you have all the tools you need. If you’re a former athlete that wants to continue playing sports well into old age, you found the right place. For all of that to work, we need strong curling clubs, they’re the foundation we’re going to grow the sport on.

Joe says that he and his wife joke that curling is the only reason they can handle winter in Minnesota. (It’s funny because it’s true!) Don’t remind him that there are people curling in clubs all over the country, he doesn’t want to think about their beautiful, perfect lives.