USA Curling Needs To Act Fast

As a marketer and guy who dips his toe into social platforms, I’ve experienced my fair share of crisis. When I first turned on the Twitter feed for Bojangles’ restaurants, we had someone post “I hate Bojangles’” on the platform. It was 2008, so all of this was new. But we had a meeting with top brass to talk about how to respond.

The thing about any crisis is that you are rarely held responsible for the crisis, but you are potentially judged on how you react to it.

USA Curling is currently dealing with a few issues that could be called a crisis, and the jury is still out on how they’ve reacted. Let’s tackle them in order of how they happened.

Jeff Plush became the new CEO of USA Curling in February 2020, just before the world shut down. Plush was the former commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League. A report detailing the results of an investigation of sexual assault, conducted by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, was released early this month and concluded that Plush was aware of sexual assault allegations made by a player about a coach, who was subsequently allowed to continue coaching in the league.

Worse, Plush promised to cooperate, and then reportedly ignored Yates.

In a statement issues on October 4, USA Curling said Plush “acted in accordance with prioritizing the safety of athletes” during his time as NWSL commissioner. Our story followed.

Perceptions matter. Canadian readers are no doubt aware of the problems at Hockey Canada. They, too, were faced with a crisis and tried to duck and cover. As major sponsors began pulling out, the acting chair, CEO and the board finally resigned.

The correct response is not “look at all the good work we do for hockey”—the proper response is replace the board, apologize, and prove they have systems in place to be better.

This is a crisis. It is a crisis of perception. How can USCA combat sexual assault allegations if Jeff Plush is the CEO? It is a valid question to be asking. There might be a valid response. Plush could be cooperating with another investigation. Plush could be incorporating systems.

The issue is that all of this is on the heels of yet another crisis, this one self-imposed.

All of the world faced a crisis and curling was no exception—the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clubs in the U.S. closed for the 2020-21 season. This isn’t a surprise; most of the planet shut down.

Some of those facilities, after not bringing in revenue for a year and having other revenue streams dry up, elected to not join USA Curling. (Full disclosure, I’m a member of Utica Curling Club, which is a six-sheet club that resigned from USA Curling.)

I can bore you with the whys and the hows, and who-said-what, but I want to talk about perceptions.

There’s a perception in USA curling that everything is centered around the midwest and the high-performance teams instead of the many grassroots programs working to grow the sport around the country. That thinking suggests that if you’re not Korey Dropkin, USA Curling doesn’t care about you.

(USCA did build their new headquarters in Minnesota.)

The perception exists. The reality could be different, and if that is the case, USA Curling has a marketing problem, not a grassroots problem. When there is a perception that the grassroots is ignored, and your board then works to boot out the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC), the largest region in USA Curling, then the response didn’t quell the perception.

Especially at a time when the board and CEO are coming under fire.

Look, I can’t fault USA Curling for hiring Plush. But as the CEO and head of this organization, he picked a nuclear option with the knowledge that Sally Yates was investigating his role in various soccer allegations.

Kicking out the GNCC says, trust us, we know what we’re doing to grow the game. Plush did that knowing his judgments could come under scrutiny in the same year.

That’s the mistake. Saying trust us, we’re making the right move, knowing there could be a moment where trust is questioned.

This should be an amazing time for curling in the United States. There’s a literal golden glow on the game. But the glow is slowly fading to a shadow as infighting and a scandal that is chasing the CEO cause the top to appear shaky and uncertain. How can we trust you with growing the game when you kick out the GNCC? How can we trust you with sexual assault allegations when your CEO is called out in a report on sexual assaults?

The perceptions are all off, and that is not good for the game. As the season kicks into gear, more and more club facilities will wonder how USA Curling helps clubs with the demands of growing the game in the States.

USA Curling needs a crisis professional. They are expensive, but they are good at what they do. Back in the Bojangles’ days, we had one. I met with them, and we decided to ask the aggrieved Tweeter what was up. He said they got his order wrong in the drive-thru, but he didn’t expect anyone to listen. We sent him a $10 gift card and moved on.

That was 2008. In 2022, we expect organizations to listen … and respond accordingly. USA Curling is sitting on two massive bombshells right now and seem to be going on with business as usual. 

Curling is growing in the U.S. in a massive way. Korey Dropkin had a nice weekend at the opening Grand Slam of the season, and sits at No. 12 in the world while Tabitha Peterson sits at No. 14. Coming out of the pandemic, the grassroots of the game are on the rise. While Canadian curling clubs shutter in some places, curling in the USA seems stronger than ever.

Denver now has two curling clubs, Nashville has a curling club, and new ice is popping up everywhere—including in San Francisco. The Southern California Curling Club just had to close, but the demand is there, and there is a strong chance they’ll be back. USCA could even step in and help—and might. This is a great chance for the USCA to look like they care about curling at the grassroots.

But right now, it all looks bad for USA Curling. They need to act, and they need to act fast.