Team Coleman 2010
About Gabrielle
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Gabrielle Coleman
Position: Skip
Age: 34
Born: Mountain View, CA
Job: Newscast Director NBC (KNTV)
Year started curling: 2006
Curling highlights:
Fun Stuff/Other Trivia:
Q & A:
Did you know how to sign before you met Karen and
JoDee?
Only a teeny tiny bit - my dad taught me the sign alphabet as a
kid, but that was it.
How did you start playing together?
I was on a mission to make it to a national championship in my
first year, after my brother challenged me to do that the first time
we tried curling. So, I needed a team. I couldn’t get the club’s
more experienced ladies to go, so I had to start up a team
myself. I spent a lot of time talking to our resident experts – Allan
Barber, Barry Ivy, Brent Halpenny, among others. We talked
about a lot of candidates, but when I looked at the line-up with
JoDee and Karen, it just felt right. They were clearly
extraordinary athletes, they were good curlers, and they were
committed to training and doing well – they training for the
Deaflympics at the time. Absolutely, I was a worried about the
fact that they were deaf and I didn’t know a word of sign, but I
knew it was the right team, so I just figured we’d work it out. Most
communication in curling is done with hand or broom signals
anyways, right? And I’d always wanted to learn to sign, so I
figured this was just a good time to do it!
So, I picked up a couple of sign language books and started
trying to talk to JoDee and Karen. They seemed pretty surprised
at first but were incredibly nice and friendly – and they read lips
and speak very well, which was good because I only knew about
five signs.
Are you fluent in ASL?
Not at all! I would like to be, though. I do know a lot more words
now than I did the first time we played together and Karen and
JoDee are working with me to help me get the rest of the way. I’d
like to think that I’m modestly conversational at this point.
What’s the best thing about getting back together now?
My favorite thing about curling with JoDee and Karen is that they
are so resilient – they never seem phased by things that go
wrong and always fight harder the tougher things get. I would
imagine part of that comes from dealing with the frustrations and
challenges of being deaf in a hearing world, but maybe they’re
just two of the toughest, coolest chicks around, I don’t know! I
hope they’ll answer that in their Q & A section!
And I also love that they’ve been with me on my whole journey.
We had some pretty intense struggles and victories together –
especially that first MoPac Club Nationals playdown day. We won
the first game, got whacked in the second, then came back and
found a way to win the third. That day was a turning point for me
– learning how to never quit no matter how overwhelmed I felt.
I'm glad I have people in my life who shared that moment with me.
What does Ann think about joining a team with this kind of
unusual communication situation?
You know, I don’t know. But she didn’t seem phased by it, so as
far as I’m concerned, that makes her the right person for us!
Why do you curl?
I ask myself that a lot, especially when I’m sleeping on the floor at
work during the two hours between when my flight got in and
when my 2 am shift starts! I think the answer is – because I love
it. It’s helped me to grow as a person and it’s been the ultimate
internal adventure trip. Being a part of the curling community
has been really good for me, too. My job can be pretty isolating
with its weird hours and curling has helped me maintain a social
life. Oddly – the crazy ice hours we have fit perfectly into my shift
work life!
Position: Skip
Age: 34
Born: Mountain View, CA
Job: Newscast Director NBC (KNTV)
Year started curling: 2006
Curling highlights:
- Olympic Trials 2009 (lead, 8th)
- Club National Championships 2009 (skip, 3rd)
- Club National Championships 2007 (skip, 9th)
- Mountain Pacific Regional Championships for Club
Nationals 2007 (1st)
Fun Stuff/Other Trivia:
- Favorite book: “We Might As Well Win,” Johan Bruyneel
(Lance Armstrong’s race director for his Tour de France
wins) - Favorite quote: JFK: “We chose to go to the moon in this
decade and do these other things, not because they are
easy, but because they are hard.” - Early career ambitions: farmer, starship captain
- Favorite sign: Zombie (adding video soon!)
- One of my most interesting curling experiences: I subbed
in the deaf league at the Royal City Curling Club earlier
this year. Inside the rink, things were not that different –
there were the sounds of the rocks and brooms and some
of the curlers were yelling calls. The bar was a totally
different story. It was so quiet up there, that as I was
walking up the stairs, I thought I had gotten lost and was
going to the wrong place! - Best thing people don’t know about curling: Curling is a
big family. You can show up at any club, anywhere in the
world and be taken in as though you’ve lived there your
whole life.
Q & A:
Did you know how to sign before you met Karen and
JoDee?
Only a teeny tiny bit - my dad taught me the sign alphabet as a
kid, but that was it.
How did you start playing together?
I was on a mission to make it to a national championship in my
first year, after my brother challenged me to do that the first time
we tried curling. So, I needed a team. I couldn’t get the club’s
more experienced ladies to go, so I had to start up a team
myself. I spent a lot of time talking to our resident experts – Allan
Barber, Barry Ivy, Brent Halpenny, among others. We talked
about a lot of candidates, but when I looked at the line-up with
JoDee and Karen, it just felt right. They were clearly
extraordinary athletes, they were good curlers, and they were
committed to training and doing well – they training for the
Deaflympics at the time. Absolutely, I was a worried about the
fact that they were deaf and I didn’t know a word of sign, but I
knew it was the right team, so I just figured we’d work it out. Most
communication in curling is done with hand or broom signals
anyways, right? And I’d always wanted to learn to sign, so I
figured this was just a good time to do it!
So, I picked up a couple of sign language books and started
trying to talk to JoDee and Karen. They seemed pretty surprised
at first but were incredibly nice and friendly – and they read lips
and speak very well, which was good because I only knew about
five signs.
Are you fluent in ASL?
Not at all! I would like to be, though. I do know a lot more words
now than I did the first time we played together and Karen and
JoDee are working with me to help me get the rest of the way. I’d
like to think that I’m modestly conversational at this point.
What’s the best thing about getting back together now?
My favorite thing about curling with JoDee and Karen is that they
are so resilient – they never seem phased by things that go
wrong and always fight harder the tougher things get. I would
imagine part of that comes from dealing with the frustrations and
challenges of being deaf in a hearing world, but maybe they’re
just two of the toughest, coolest chicks around, I don’t know! I
hope they’ll answer that in their Q & A section!
And I also love that they’ve been with me on my whole journey.
We had some pretty intense struggles and victories together –
especially that first MoPac Club Nationals playdown day. We won
the first game, got whacked in the second, then came back and
found a way to win the third. That day was a turning point for me
– learning how to never quit no matter how overwhelmed I felt.
I'm glad I have people in my life who shared that moment with me.
What does Ann think about joining a team with this kind of
unusual communication situation?
You know, I don’t know. But she didn’t seem phased by it, so as
far as I’m concerned, that makes her the right person for us!
Why do you curl?
I ask myself that a lot, especially when I’m sleeping on the floor at
work during the two hours between when my flight got in and
when my 2 am shift starts! I think the answer is – because I love
it. It’s helped me to grow as a person and it’s been the ultimate
internal adventure trip. Being a part of the curling community
has been really good for me, too. My job can be pretty isolating
with its weird hours and curling has helped me maintain a social
life. Oddly – the crazy ice hours we have fit perfectly into my shift
work life!