WORLD JUNIOR WOMEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP—PLAYER ELIGIBILITY ISSUE
Photo by: Bob Weder
[EAGAN, MN, November 27th, 2023] — This week, USA Curling was informed by the World Curling Federation (WCF) that Jordan Hein, a member of the Women’s team that will represent the United States at the World Junior B Curling Championships in Loja, Finland, is one day too old to be eligible to compete.
Obviously, this was extremely difficult news for Jordan, Team Scheel, and this organization. Our first step was to follow up with the WCF competitions staff to confirm that the interpretation of their rules was correct. We also reached out to see if there had been changes to the language in their rule book in recent years. In both instances, their answers confirmed that they were following their rules appropriately and they had not been recently changed.
We moved quickly to communicate this information. Team Scheel coach Mike Moore traveled to Duluth, where all Team Scheel members were competing in Mixed Doubles in the CK Cup. With Mike in the room, Dean Gemmell, along with Katie Baker and Phill Drobnick, joined by video and told Jordan about the WCF ruling.
Jordan and her teammates have worked hard to prepare for Finland. To help them process this news, we connected with the team sports psychologist in advance to ensure that he was available for Jordan and her teammates.
We also investigated the events that created this situation so it can be prevented going forward. First, we examined our registration and verification process for the 2023 Junior Nationals. According to the language in last year’s USA Curling Rule Book, Jordan was eligible to compete in our Junior Nationals. Our registration and verification process was followed correctly, so competitive integrity was maintained.
Unfortunately, the language in our rule book relating to the June 30th deadline on age eligibility was slightly different than the language in the WCF Rule Book. Our rule stated that a competitor must be under the age of 21 at any time on June 30th. According to the WCF, a competitor must be under the age of 21 at the end of the day on June 30th. Jordan’s birthday is June 30th.
We’re not sure how these different versions occurred, since this section was not part of revisions to the Rule Book made in the fall of 2022. We have adopted the WCF Rules of Curling for our events in 2023-24. Moving forward, we will review and revise our own Qualifying Procedures document to ensure that any language related to eligibility is an exact match of the language that the WCF employs.
Dean Gemmell, CEO of USA Curling, said, “I am deeply disappointed that a talented young athlete won’t have the opportunity to compete on the world stage. We have secured a credential from the WCF for Jordan and invited her to go with the team to Finland, but I realize this is not a substitute for an athlete who has trained to play at the highest level. We will continue to work to improve all our processes going forward and ensure that this kind of situation does not occur again.”
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.
