Curling has been part of the social fabric in Pardeeville, Wis., (pop. 2,102) for 134 years, making the local club nearly as old as the village itself. The town's residents play the game these days in a little building on 2nd Street, home to two sheets of ice, five bonspiels, about 90 members and one Olympian.
Debbie McCormick made her third Olympic team Saturday, guiding a team of two Wisconsinites and two Minnesotans to its fourth consecutive national title. She's also vice president of the Pardeeville club, where adults can join a league for as little as $110 a year -- beer, soda and chips included. McCormick does her serious training in Madison, 35 miles to the south, at a club that's merely 88 years old. When she curls for fun, she heads to Pardeeville, where the three-time world championship medalist can relax among the social players in a game that values community above celebrity.
As elite athletes seem to grow increasingly distant from the general population, curling remains the rare sport that offers everyman -- and everywoman -- a chance at an Olympic medal. The first athletes named to the U.S. contingent for next year's Winter Games in Vancouver include a bartender, a teacher, a nurse, two moms and a 35-year-old employee of Madison's Home Depot who is sponsored by a sardine company and coached by her dad.
"It feels so good to look up at the flag, to wear USA on your back, and know Americans are proud of you," McCormick said. "I've gotten tons of e-mails from everyone in Rio, Pardeeville and Madison. When we get back home, we're going to party, that's for sure."
Curling stands as the most inclusive of all Winter Olympic sports, a game where even world-class athletes come in a wide variety of ages, body types and backgrounds. At the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, 54-year-old Scott Baird of Bemidji won a bronze medal as part of Pete Fenson's team, becoming the oldest person to win a Winter Olympic medal. The 20 teams that competed at last week's Olympic trials included retiree Ken Trask, 61, and high school student Derrick McLean, 16, who played on a team skipped by police officer Mark Johnson.
McCormick and her husband, Pete, live in a home they built on his family's land between Rio and Pardeeville. She used to coach the Pardeeville High School boys' curling team and plays with and alongside folks of all ages at the Pardeeville club.
Though they weren't able to watch the Olympic trials on television -- none of the members got the Universal Sports cable channel that carried the finals -- club secretary Patricia Huggett said many followed the real-time scoring on the Internet.
"Everyone here admires Debbie so much, because she's such a nice person," said Huggett, who took up curling at age 55 and is still enjoying it 16 years later. "She comes here to the club and sits in with us locals. She even came to talk to the little kids, to tell them that anyone can play. We're all very proud of her."
