REVIEW OF THE GNCC PROPOSAL FOR RETURNING TO THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Photo by: Bob Weder
For the past year, USA Curling has consistently communicated its hope that the GNCC would return to the national organization as a Recognized Regional Association (RRA). We believe the curling community is stronger when it is united and working together.
In the past, the major concern of the GNCC was the compliance requirement—under the previous USA Curling governance structure, 95% of the clubs that were members of a regional association were also required to be members of the national organization. If that threshold was not met, the regional association was considered out of compliance.
The GNCC Board, along with the Boards of other regional associations, wanted this requirement eliminated.
The Board and management of USA Curling agreed.
In 2023, a new membership model and governance structure was introduced, eliminating the compliance requirement for both regional associations and Member Clubs. Corresponding bylaw amendments, related to the new model, were ratified at the Members’ Meeting held on October 13, 2023.
Shortly after the Members’ Meeting, USA Curling invited the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC) to return to the national organization as a Recognized Regional Association. In email correspondence, USA Curling Board Chair Bret Jackson suggested meeting to discuss a path forward.
On February 20, 2024, the GNCC Board of Directors sent a proposal to leaders of GNCC clubs, detailing their conditions/concerns related to rejoining USA Curling, and announced a vote on the issue at their annual Spring meeting. USA Curling received this notice at the same time.
USA Curling is optimistic and believes there is plenty of common ground—most of the conditions/concerns are already incorporated into USA Curling governance or are relatively simple to resolve. Some will require further discussion.
In the spirit of collaboration and open communication, USA Curling Board Chair Bret Jackson, on behalf of the Board and the organization, sent a letter to the GNCC Board addressing their conditions/concerns on March 19th. That letter is linked below.
USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell will be hosting a Town Hall on Tuesday, March 26th at 7 PM CT to discuss this topic and other issues in the curling community. Town Hall details and instructions for joining it can be found in the link below.
About USA Curling
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota, USA Curling is the National Governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling in the United States. The mission of USA Curling is to grow, strengthen, and advocate for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of curling in the United States by prioritizing accessibility and programmatic development from grassroots to podium. USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Toyota, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), Rock Solid Productions, Jet Ice, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling is a proud member of the World Curling Federation and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. To learn more, visit usacurling.org.
