Published>Thu, Feb 11 10 07:54 AM
She nearly quit the family business of curling, but U.S. Olympic captain Debbie McCormick said she got her groove back with equal measures of training and bonding with her team.
Over the past year, McCormick's squad has gone back to basics on the rink, taking it, as they say, one rock at a time, and one end at a time.
They have also gotten in touch with each other's feelings, with the help of a psychologist.
In fact, the women are so close they finish each other's sentences and frequently trade inside jokes.
It's represented a big transformation for McCormick, the 36-year-old from Rio, Wisconsin, who came close to hanging up her broom after losing the U.S. qualifying match for the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
"I was just devastated that we didn't win. Like, I really felt that I was supposed to be there, the team was supposed to be there," she told Reuters.
"We had worked so hard, we had done so well. I didn't understand how we did lose, what we did wrong. It wasn't like we played a bad final."
But team mate Allison Pottinger, who plays third position on the U.S. team, worked to persuade her to stick it out. McCormick's grandmother also weighed in to remind the eight-time U.S. national champion that she is no quitter.
It became a question of taking time to "mourn the loss".
"I knew I still had the drive in me, I still wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist," she said.
The Vancouver Games represent her third trip to the Olympics.
One constant in her career has been the support of father, Wally Henry, himself a two-time U.S. champion. He has another important role, too -- he's also the team's coach.
McCormick said she found it easy to distinguish his roles, respecting him as coach on the ice and father off it.
Having qualified for Vancouver about a year ago, the team, which also includes Nicole Joraanstad, who plays second position, lead Natalie Nicholson and alternate Tracy Sachtjen, has trained without the pressure of worrying about their spot.
It has allowed a lot of work with a sports psychologist, who has run them through exercises aimed at bringing them closer, and keeping them genuine.
The aim to focus solely on shots and strategy while on the ice, and keep other emotions out of the mix.
Nicholson said McCormick excels at making sure each player is contributing to the team, putting aside her own success on the national and international curling scene.
"It's hard, because I have played with skips who haven't down that," she said. "So I left 'em."
Source: Web Search
0 comments:
Post a Comment