SportsTravel Catches Up With USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell

Jason Gewirtz has been on the ground in Italy throughout the Winter Olympics, talking with CEOs of various U.S. national governing bodies. Check out each interview here:

Matt Farrell, U.S. Figure Skating

Sophie Goldschmidt, U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey
Ted Morris, US Speedskating

CORTINA — Every four years, curling becomes the darling of the Olympics. Ratings go up, interest goes up and, according to USA Curling, participation goes up as well. The U.S. team is off to a particularly good start at these Winter Games with the mixed doubles team of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin scoring a silver medal — the first time the country has medaled since the discipline joined the Olympic program in 2018.

At the helm of USA Curling is Dean Gemmell who became the CEO in 2023 after serving as interim CEO before that and as the national governing body’s director of development since May 2021. He’s also got a background as an athlete in the sport, including as a member of the 2012 USA Curling Men’s National Champion with Team McCormick and a 2013 Olympic Trials competitor.

SportsTravel caught up with Gemmell at Cortina Curling Stadium as the mixed team was competing against defending champion Italy, who they eventually beat to play in the finals. The venue is the renovated arena where the 1956 Olympic Winter Games staged its opening ceremony and figure skating competition. Gemmell talks about the venue itself, the performance on the ice and what cities can do to encourage development of more curling venues.

SportsTravel: It’s interesting that curling is being staged up in the mountain town of Cortina and not in the city of Milan. Usually at a Winter Games you’ve got the opportunity to be in the city. What’s your take on the sport being staged up here?

Gemmell: The people of Cortina have been super welcoming, and we’re grateful to be here for that. Certainly the natural surroundings are incredible here, so that’s great and fun. It is typical that we were usually with speedskating, figure skating, hockey, and there’s a bit more connection between those other sports. All it really means is that I can’t trade curling tickets for a hockey ticket one night or speedskating. [Laughs.] It feels certainly compact here and fun. So we’re happy to be here.

SportsTravel: What do you think about this arena, in general? This is a historic site that’s now being used for your sport.

Gemmell: I mean, the sight lines are great and it’s a good size for curling. I think it’s about 3,500 people. That’s a good size for us, lots of good energy in here because the Italians have a very good mixed doubles team. So it’s pretty cool. It gets loud in here and we’ve liked all that.

SportsTravel: You just mentioned the Italian team. Congratulations on your mixed team, making it to the medal round. That’s a first for the U.S. in that discipline, so what does that say about the development of the sport in the United States?

Gemmell: Obviously, that’s a great accomplishment. I think we have a really talented mixed doubles team here. Full credit to Korey (Dropkin) and Cory (Thiesse), and their coach, Cathy Overton Clapham and Phill Drobnick, who heads up our national program right now. Really lots of good prep. They won the world championship in 2023. But I do think we’re continuing to get some traction, bringing more upper-level athletes along, and we’ve got some good young players who are candidates for 2030 and 2034. So I feel good with how we’re going, and obviously, when we get a team in the medal round, and hopefully on the podium, that certainly helps drive more participation. We’re really hoping to drive more participation among teenage athletes. If you’re playing another sport, whether that’s baseball or soccer or softball, and you decide, “Hey, maybe I need a winter sport,” we’re a great option.

SportsTravel: In 2018, John Schuster and his team had the breakthrough gold medal for Team USA. What did that mean for the sport and did that help jumpstart interest?

Gemmell: Yeah, we saw a big uptick. I think we would capitalize on it even more in 2026 if we get medals. But that was great. And John’s been a great ambassador and his team have been great ambassadors for the sport in our country. Danny Casper is skipping the men’s team here, and he said that watching that gold medal win was what really prompted him to focus on curling versus some other sports. So that’s paid off, obviously, well. And then the nice thing about it is John Schuster and his team became mentors to our young men’s team. Yeah, it was a big moment.

SportsTravel: You’re doing some interesting things from a creative standpoint at USA Curling during the Games. You recently launched a contest to have people submit videos of themselves curling with non-curling items. Talk to me about the effort at home to build some excitement for the sport.

Gemmell: During every Olympics, there’s people who have user-generated content, people do stuff online, showing them sweeping someone in office chairs or whatever else. We thought rather than just let that build, why don’t we try to capitalize on it, get some more interest. So we have a daily curling contest where people can submit their own videos with prizes for that at the end. I hope people take advantage of that. We’re doing a lot of things with our member clubs, trying to get more people in to try it. I do think that during the Games that happens organically, people see it, they want to go try it.

The other focus point for us is we’re really trying to get more facilities built around the country. I think that’s the biggest impediment to growth right now is that we have lots of new facilities in unusual places, like Phoenix and Portland, and we’re going to have a place in Orange County, California, a place in Dallas/Fort Worth. I just want communities to know about our sport that a curling center in your community is a great asset. It brings people together in a way that you can’t imagine, not just for Olympics, but just for community-building. So we’d love to see more of that.

SportsTravel: Well, talk to me more about that, because I think cities would be interested in knowing how to do that. Are you ideally looking for curling-specific venues to be developed as opposed to just sheets of ice?

Gemmell: So we have two kinds of clubs. We have the curling-specific facilities and we have about 90 of those. And then we have a whole bunch of clubs that play on skating ice. And frankly, they’re our most dedicated curlers, because they literally keep rocks in freezers, they drag them out to play, they have to prep the ice. The ice isn’t really great for curling. It’s OK, but it’s not great. So we really want more that are just curling specific.

And then there’s a whole community aspect that happens with a curling-specific facility. There’s people that gather for drinks after a game, sit around a table and talk, and it’s just a much better experience. We talk a lot about third spaces and community spaces. I’m convinced our curling clubs can be a hub like no other sport can be.

SportsTravel: Lastly, and tied into that, you’re one of those sports that gets its most exposure during the Olympic Games. This comes up every four years, but what’s the key for your organization to take maximum advantage as best you can of this opportunity to introduce yourself to non-curlers?

Gemmell: I think you touched on it. We get a lot of coverage every four years. How do we get more coverage in between the flames? We’re always working on our flame-to-flame strategy. I’m hopeful that we can get more television coverage of our sport between this Games and the next one. That would certainly help. And then, obviously we want to maximize this. It’s about getting as much exposure as we can for the sport, as many new participants as we can. And hopefully that momentum carries through. But we need to do a better job, frankly, flame to flame. We’re improving, but we still have work to do there. Money would help and getting more clubs built will make a huge difference.

We talk about major metro markets like Denver, which has had two clubs since 2015, they’re both doing really well. Our club in Phoenix does well. Our two clubs in North Carolina do very well. Those are unusual curling markets. But if it’s a major metro and we get a facility in there, or if it’s not USA Curling but it’s people in the local area, boots on the ground getting that stuff done, when that happens we do well.