J.D Lind

#BetweenTheSheets with J.D. Lind

We talk coaching, #TeamJapan, PyeongChang and Britney Spears!! 

It has been awhile since the #TwineTime blog added a new face to the place.  A little wham to the fam.  Worry no longer #curling fans, I am hear to put some more yak in your hack!

Ok, I may have been spending some time with school age children at work playing rhyme tyme...my apologies.  But I do think you should be excited about our newest #TwineTime fam member: J.D. Lind!  J.D. is a curler.  J.D. is a coach.  J.D. has been to one Olympics and is preparing for another in only a few months time.  The unique story behind J.D. though is his coaching and Olympics experience do not come with a maple leaf on his back but rather the "Circle of the Sun".

The #growthesport theme has been elevated this season with #TeamWorld stepping up their game on the #gsoc circuit.  #TeamCanada owning the world stage.  And #TeamUpset making history along the way.  While at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Lethbridge this season, I had the opportunity to sit down with #TeamJapan coach J.D. Lind and talk about his transition from curling athlete to curling coach, his new role with a new nation, how he has seen a #growthesport movement and the excitement surrounding the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Get ready to see the sport through the mixture of a curler/coaching lens and welcome the first coach to the #TwineTime family.  Let's go #BetweenTheSheets with J.D. Lind!

International Growth

#BetweenTheSheets: Sport Development Takes Centre Sheet

The #WMDCC2017 highlights the importance of the #growthesport theme

The curling season has come and gone once again and for many it was a season of celebration, trophy lifting and making some money.  Canada's Brad Gushue and Rachel Homan hoisted the ultimate prize of the year in claiming world championship victories.  Sweden's Niklas Edin hoisted a few grand slam titles and finished the year with the second-largest money haul in the history of the sport.

But championship wins and giant oversize cheques are not the only keys to success within the sport.  And not all athletes and nations competing will get to wrap themselves in the warm glow of championship victories.  For some, just being able to compete on the big ice is a victory in itself while trying to #growthesport back home to keep curling sustainable and relevant.  The sports development model is a work in progress.

The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships wrapped up over a week ago in Lethbridge, Alberta.  The #TwineTime blog was fortunate enough to attend the event and have some time to talk to a few of the players competing from the "non-traditional" curling powerhouse nations.  Sure we know about Canada and USA and Sweden and Scotland and Switzerland.  We know how the sport is doing in those nations.  But what about other nations around the globe?  Do you know how the sport is doing in Poland or Latvia?  What about the other #TeamGB nations, Wales and England?  And what about the newest challenger in the America's region, Brazil?