Team Gushue

Welcome Back Team Canada

I would like to post some excerpts of Coach Daryl’s Diary for their last day … If you haven’t been reading his daily diary during the 2006 Winter Olympics, you can still go back and read each day and be treated to great insights of Team Kleibrink over in Torino. I enjoyed looking at the pictures, and all of the commentaries and even the words of the day

Source: http://www.fieldlaw.com/team_kleibrink.html#diary

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Anyone requesting appearance appointments for one or members of the team should contact Paul Webster (Canadian Curling Association) by e-mail.

COACH DARYL’S DIARY (with guests!)

February 26 and 27

Team Kleibrink is home safe and sound in Alberta and British Columbia.

This update covers our last day in Torino (Sunday February 26) and our trip home on Monday February 27.

The hi-lite for Sunday was the Closing Ceremony. Unlike the Opening Ceremony, the athletes from all countries marched in together and in no particular order. This represents the coming together of the nations in the Olympic Spirit.

We had much better seating than we did for the Opening Ceremonies, located immediately behind the main stage. We could see everything quite clear.

It was a spectacular ceremony. See photos attached.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee was part of the presentation (see the Inukshuk photo). The Olympic flag is on it’s way to Vancouver and will be raised there on Tuesday afternoon!

One of the hi-lites for the athletes is the trading of Olympic Clothing.

Shannon and Sandra traded their jackets with a couple of Chinese Athletes, Glenys traded her jacket with an Italian Athlete, Amy traded her closing ceremony toque for a “volunteer” fleece jacket and Christine did the most trading getting a Swiss vest and lots of other stuff. It was neat to be a part of all this! (see photos attached)

Early Monday morning (7:00 a.m.) we boarded a bus to travel to Milan to catch an Air France flight to Paris. From Paris, it was Air France to Toronto, where Air France, Air Canada and the Toronto Airport Authority helped expedite our gathering of luggage, getting us through customs and putting our luggage on flights to Calgary, Kelowna and Edmonton. Their help was much appreciated!

Shannon, Amy, Glenys and Christine flew Air Canada to Calgary and arrived home to a hero’s celebration at the Calgary International Airport. Their flight was pretty much on time.

Daryl, flew West Jet to Edmonton (leaving an hour and a half late) and arrived home to a smaller celebration of wife Bonnie and 8 colleagues from EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. who were all decked out in Olympic gear, presented me with my own “Bronze Medal” and a limo ride home with Champagne!

It was a very long day…for me it was in the order of 24 hours of continuous travel to get home.

In closing, the Olympic Diary, let me say on behalf of Team Kleibrink….Thank You to all who have visited the website, sent e-mail to our team e-mail address or individual team members personal e-mail addresses and provided support throughout for us.

There is nothing more uplifting than knowing that those close to you are providing their support through thick and thin! Without you, Team Kleibrink would not likely have achieved the incredible goal of being Olympic Medalists!

We would also like to thank Field Law and Tammy Wiebe for facilitating the Team Kleibrink website and updating the Coach’s Diary on a daily basis. Tammy did this every day including on weekends from her home computer and this is much appreciated!

Mille Grazie!

Arrivedercie!

Coach Daryl (on behalf of Team Kleibrink)

From The CBC Torino 2006 - The Olympic Games Site

Christine Keshen Curling - women’s lead

Birthdate: Feb. 6, 1978
Birthplace: Invermere, B.C.
Hometown: Calgary

Olympic Outlook

The youngest member of Team Shannon Kleibrink, Keshen proved to be a solid lead at the 2005 Canadian curling trials. Still, she has never competed in a world or national championship, much less the Olympics.

Season Highlights

* Won Canadian curling trials as lead for Kleibrink
* Two top-three finishes on Women’s Curling Tour as lead for Kleibrink

Career Highlights

* Won 2005 Canada Cup as lead for Kleibrink

Quotations

“We need to sexify curling because sex sells.”
- Keshen, who supported curlers posing nude for a fundraising calendar released in October, on how to increase the game’s revenue.

Noteworthy

* Keshen curled a game-high 86 per cent in the final of the 2005 Canadian curling trials.

Copyright © CBC 2006

Calgary Curlers Going for Gold in Torino, Italy!

The Calgary Winter Club is pleased to announce that it is hosting an Olympic Send Off Party for Canada’s Olympic Women’s Curling Team (Team Kleibrink) on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm. This is a unique opportunity to cheer on Team Canada before they embark on the most exciting journey of their lives!

Calgary area curling fans will be able to share a beverage and hors d’oeuvres with Olympic hopefuls Skip: Shannon Kleibrink; Third: Amy Nixon; Second: Glenys Bakker; Lead: Christine Keshen; and Alternate: Sandra Jenkins. As a part of the Send Off, a 10 day silent auction will be touring various curling clubs around Calgary and will close at the event, and a fast-paced, live auction will also be held. One hundred percent of all funds raised from this event will be presented to Team Kleibrink to assist them in their quest for Olympic gold!

Tickets are $10 each and include your admission to the event, an auction number, as well as a large assortment of hors d’oeuvres donated by The Calgary Winter Club.

Available tickets are going fast and can be purchased at the following locations:

The Calgary Winter Club
The Calgary Curling Club
The Glencoe Club
Huntington Hills Community Centre
Inglewood Golf & Country Club
North Hill Community Curling Club

We invite the Calgary curling community and all Calgarians to join us in wishing Team Canada well and letting them know that we’re all behind them and will be cheering them on throughout the Olympics.

When: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm
Where: The Calgary Winter Club, 4611 - 14 Street NW, Calgary, Alberta

Contact:

Glenda Marr
Marketing Manager
Calgary Winter Club
4611 -14 Street NW
Calgary, Alberta
Phone: (403) 338-2416

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Source: Dawn Stirling
Provided to us by way of our Contact Form

BCNG Portals Page - Olympian welcomed home

Olympian welcomed home
By Erika Baltrus
ECHO REPORTER
Dec 21 2005

Christine Keshen hugs former high school curling coach Bill Robinson during a special welcome home ceremony for the Winter Olympics-bound curler. Echo photo by Erika Baltrus

Invermere will no longer be described as the town on Lake Windermere. It will be Invermere: Home of Olympian Christine Keshen. Half of the town turned out on Dec. 17 to welcome Keshen home at a reception held at the Joe Peters Curling Centre.
“All across Canada young boys and young girls play sports for fun but they also dream about wearing a maple leaf and going to play in the Olympics,” said District of Invermere (DOI) Mayor Mark Shmigelsky. “So many people watch the Olympics, but now we have an even greater reason to watch, and a more special one, because we have one of our own in it. On behalf of the DOI and our whole community we’d like to offer you congratulations, and when you come back with the gold medal, we’ll have a big parade.” . [More….]

BCNG Portals Page - Local curler Olympics-bound

Christine Keshen, seen with former high school coach Barry Gillies, is heading to the Winter Olympics in Italy as part of Canada’s Women’s Curling Team. Echo file photo by Erika Baltrus

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By Erika Baltrus
ECHO REPORTER
Dec 14 2005

The entire valley community felt of surge of pride on Saturday when Invermere’s own Christine Keshen and her curling team won the opportunity to attend the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Team Kleibrink made a stunning win in the final game of the Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials on Dec. 10 against Team Scott, ensuring them a trip to the Olympics.

Keshen described to The Echo the final moments when skip Shannon Kleibrink made the winning throw.

“I don’t think I can even describe the emotions, especially since we were down two coming home with hammer. We had expected to get two in that end and go to another end and be forced to steal,” Keshen noted. “That’s a tough position to be in. It’s pretty mentally stressful.

“We suddenly set up the end and realized we might get three here. When Shannon had the open hit for the win, I was shaking. I could sort of tell that we had it by the tone in Amy’s voice. I could start to hear the excitement. We just started jumping up and down. We knew we’d made the shot and everyone just started running.”

Keshen plays lead with Kleibrink, third Amy Nixon, and second Glenys Bakker. She attributes the success of the team that is based out of Calgary to the diversity of the members.

“There are four very, very different people and that can be challenging but every one person on this team brings a little something different to the core, to that mix,” she revealed. “With that mix it is the right balance to make an ultimate team. We are all at different stages in our lives and we all have totally different backgrounds and personal lives and careers. Amy has been through a lot with her mother being ill. Shannon and I have both quit our jobs and have made a lot of sacrifices personally and professionally. Glenys had a baby in August and she’s been carrying around the baby, feeding the baby at the fifth end break. We’re able to overcome anything that is thrown in our path and we feel like we can do anything because we’ve been through so much.”

Already life has changed for the foursome. Keshen joked that she suddenly understands how Britney Spears feels, being hounded by fans and supporters. After a break for Christmas, when she will come home to Invermere, it all begins.

“We have one day off in three or four months and then we are owned basically for the next two years so it is going to be an exciting ride,” she said.

Team Kleibrink will be shipping out to Switzerland where they will be playing in the biggest international women’s ’spiel in Bern, and then they are off to take a site tour of Turin.

“People are coming up to us and cheering ‘Go Team Canada’ and I’m just thinking wow, we’re Team Canada!” Keshen mused. “When you bring that many people together who have such strong desire, dedication, goals and heart, I think the energy there is going to be so awesome and I am so looking forward to being a part of Team Canada. We all want the same goal and we’re all going to be cheering for each other and I am so stoked to be a part of that bigger unit.”

Keshen is also very proud to have her roots in the valley.

“I can’t wait to get back there. I’m stoked to bring my medal and share it with the community. I’m so proud to be an Inver-merian. That community has really helped me along. I could feel that everyone was behind me 100%, with the messages that were sent and all the best wishes. Going in here I felt that it wasn’t just a personal accomplishment, that it’s a bigger thing. My roots stem from there and I just want to make sure the community shares it with me.”

She especially wanted to note her coaches who helped her get her start in curling at David Thompson Secondary School.
“Bill Robinson and Barry Gillies were my two coaches back in high school. Every time I win something big, I always want to make sure that they know that I think about them.”

Gillies and Robinson are both thrilled for Keshen and her successes but both brush off any real credit for where she’s made it.
“Barry was certainly the main coach,” said Robinson. “She’s pretty well self-taught but I’m happy to have been even a small part of her success and I can only wish her well.”

Gillies also thinks his role was very small “but it was a thrill for me to see her win. “Probably the biggest influence I had on her was turning her onto the game of curling. But she’s a very athletic and intelligent girl and she knows how to set goals for herself and go after it. The rest of it she did on her own. I just think it’s absolutely wonderful. How many times do you have an Olympian represent your town?”

© Copyright 2005 Invermere Valley Echo