With the support of the OCI from Giles Warrington (sports science) , Ciara Losty ( sports psychology) and Stephen Martin (athlete/team performance planning) the squad have held regular sessions over the year concentrating on specific skills and tactics for tournament play.
The team who competed at the 2008 European Championships have played in two summer tournaments this year (Dumfries and Stirling), and the Kolibris Cup in Prague.
The final team selection was made after last weekend with the squad for Aberdeen being decided as (in alphabetical order) Neil Fyfe, Bill Gray, Robin Gray, Johnjo Kenny and Peter Wilson. The coach will be Peter J D Wilson. Tony Tierney and John Furey are on stand-by.
The team’s quality of competitive matches included the recent British Championship with top Scottish Club teams competing with the national champions of Wales, England and Ireland. The final preparation tournament was last weekend at the Edinburgh International, both Top World Cup status events.
Team member, Johnjo Kenny said,
“The European B league will be stronger than ever this year. Our preparation has been better than ever but the same is true of our opposition. The Dutch, Hungarian and Russian teams have been almost Full-time curlers this season. I was in germany for a tournament last week and the Hungarians had set up a 2 week training camp there and are in Scotland this week. The Dutch recently beat the top 3 Scottish teams including the World Champions in a competition in Berne. We are very aware of the challenge ahead but are confident in our preperation to date”
OCI Chief Executive Stephen Martin added, “The Irish Curlers are trying to restore their Division A status and gain a World Cup place in Aberdeen and we are delighted to have added some support services and finance to assist their preparation for the Europeans next week “
