The following is a Q&A with former Briarcliff resident Andrew Stopera, whose team won the U.S. men’s national curling championship earlier this year. The 27-year-old, a 2015 Hackley School graduate, who later graduated from Northwestern University, followed his father and grandfather into curling.
Stopera, whose curling career is rooted in the Ardsley Curling Club, was a three-time U.S. junior champion and, in 2017, won silver at the 2017 World Junior Championships.
While his team can earn prize money and are given a yearly allowance by USA Curling, he and his teammates hold jobs that allow them to both pay their bills and pursue their passion. Stopera works in insurance. This contrasts with elite curlers in many other countries, who are either, in some instances, directly paid a full-time salary by their countries to curl and/or receive large government bonuses for strong finishes or are full-time curlers who are technically members of the military or police.
But while he'd like to see more support for American curlers, Stopera isn't complaining. Curling has taken him from the Ardsley club to multiple parts of the world. Stopera, who now lives in Minnesota, is a three-year member of Team Dropkin, which scored a historic semifinals win at nationals, beating legendary curler John Schuster and his team. Schuster is a five-time Olympian and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. "It was a little like conquering demons," Stopera says.
And, of course, one of the demon slayers was someone who learned to curl far removed from the Midwest, the hotbed of U.S. curling. The win over Schuster further amplified the Ardsley Curling Club's name, which got another lift in the championship as Team Dropkin won the national title with a finals victory over Team Casper, which is captained by Danny Casper, who also grew up on the ice at Ardsley.
The national title qualified Team Dropkin to represent the U.S. at the World Championships, which began earlier this week and conclude Sunday in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The U.S. Olympic Trials are scheduled for later this year and Stopera and his team should be among the favorites there.
Below is the Q&A done with Stopera after nationals.
Q: You followed your dad and granddad into the sport. Your dad has curled at a very high level. (Bill Stopera was a national champion in 2012 and competed at worlds.) How much did his love of the sport make you want to do it?
A: My dad played a lot while I was growing up. He pushed me to play a lot of sports. I saw what he put in and got out (of curling). After 2012 (when his team won nationals), I curled maybe twice a week and did some junior events. Now I’m at the club five days a week. When he was practicing for nationals and the Olympic Trials, I was trying to do well in juniors. I learned what was possible soon after I went to junior nationals and got third (place). It kickstarted (everything). But he's been a massive, massive part.
Q: How many U.S. Junior Championships did you compete in?
A: I played in seven. I would have been 15 (years old) in the first.
Q: You also competed (this year) in (two-player-per team) mixed doubles nationals (finishing second by just one point). How long have you played doubles and do you prefer traditional curling or ...
