Fan of the Month: Mikhail Vasilyevich Kurbatov
Mikhail Kurbatov at the 2019 Continental Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About Mikhail
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Home Club: St. Louis Curling Club
Occupation: Fire Protection Systems Installer
Years Curling: 6+ years
Question (Q): What has been your favorite Curler Outreach webinar?
Mikhail Kurbatov (MK):
1. Diversity in Curling (relevant to myself)
2. Women in Curling (incredible topic, I advocate that ladies teams are as strong as men)
3. Arena Ice Prep with Dave Ellis and Don Powell (obviously - I consider myself a curling ice tech)
4. Mixed Doubles Strategy and Basics (don't need to explain - you've seen it!)
5. Any and every webinar with Steph Thompson - I admire her enthusiasm and tons of information! (if only we can slow her talking a little bit! LOL!)
Q: Do you have any special roles at your club, or leagues/spiels you regularly enjoy? Please describe.
MK: I've been in charge of ice for a few years, created and produced a lot of special equipment (for arena clubs), developed a routine (with a team of dedicated members as well) that allowed us to convert regular hockey ice with no curling markings to 5 sheets of curling ice in 30 minutes. As of right now, not much…partially because of obvious reasons (Covid-19)- partially, because I feel like an outsider (immigrant, language, etc.).
Q: How did you find curling? What was attractive about it?
MK: Common story- watched it on tv, occasionally searched the internet for a club in close proximity, and then one day - found a learn-to-curl advertisement. Went there without an appointment, they had an opening, I tried - ruined my white shoes and white pants I had on (on arena clubs we have temporary markings on the top of ice - NEW CURLERS BEWARE!). Got hooked on curling, end of story.
Q: Best moment of curling in your life- on or off the ice.
MK: Where do I start? I have enough stories for a book!
2017 Continental Cup in Vegas- I was there as a member of the ice tech crew. Couple days in, 5,000 fans cheering for North America and just a couple (literally) voices for Team World. Canadians even stole my tiny cowbell to silence me! I went to a local Party City store, bought a bunch of whistles, cowbells, air horns, etc., and left them on the Team World bench before the next day’s start. Teams used them to cheer themselves up! Spirit was up, the game was up!!!!
Second best moment- 2018 Ford World Women's in North Bay, Ontario. Unbelievably friendly town! Public bus even changed its regular route to get me to the Arena at 6am (it's cold out there…) and didn't even take any money. But that is not the story…
I was able to convince the entire arena of viewers, several thousand people, rural Canadians to cheer for a Russian team! That was a blast! Even the team and coaches were surprised to hear it during the game! (I have to admit they didn't play against Jennifer Jones' team). I want to believe that was my small contribution to a result -a Bronze Medal!
I have to stop now...
Mikhail prepping the ice with Shawn Olesen.
Q: Do you have any personal curling goals for the future?
MK: Because of my age, most of the goals are out of reach, I started too late.
Let's see… I will try to achieve a Level 3 Ice Tech, participate at Innsbrook Winter Games in curling discipline, and start a new dedicated curling club. This is my short list. The long one- I'll keep to myself.
Q: Especially in these uncertain times, what does being a curler mean to you?
MK: Fortunately, these “uncertain times” did not affect me at all. I work as usual (just wearing a mask all the time - I'm perfectly ok with that). Much less curling locally, but I was able to find a few bonspiels and thanks to that, I was able to find a new curling partner - a wonderful, brave woman (she is a first generation immigrant as well), professional curler and coach (in the past) of the highest world level! I will continue to learn a lot from her. If we could summarize it, it wouldn't have happened to me if there was no curling in my life. Does it make any sense? Being curler means being a part of a worldwide curling community - no borders whatsoever - unbelievable feeling!
Q: Anything else you'd like folks to know- about yourself, your club, etc?
MK: I've learned a couple lessons in my entire life and recently:
One - never stop! Learn something new every day. Having a HS, couple colleges, couple universities, military academy, 5 countries behind myself - can say for sure: there is so much unknown and exciting life experience ahead of everyone. Keep going!
Second - there is a common belief that arena clubs can not have quality ice. Not true! Work hard, find a group of dedicated members, believe and learn - arena ice can be very acceptable ice!
Mikhail knows what it’s like to curl without borders!
Thank you, Mikhail, for supporting the Curler Outreach Program since the beginning. Good Curling, Mikhail and St. Louis!