Brad Gushue is back in the curling world.
On Wednesday, the move was officially announced that he'd accepted a role as USA Curling's new High Performance director, a hire that shocked many. As one of Canada's all-time best curlers, what led Gushue to a move to its closest neighbour?
Well, for starters, the USA Curling job was available. "Someone brought up me taking on a role here in Canada and for one there, there wasn't really any roles that were of interest to me that were available," Gushue explained to John Cullen on an episode of The Broom Brothers podcast. "Even if there was, it would be a challenge for me to take on a role and then all of a sudden jump in and be working with Matt Dunstone and Brad Jacobs and Mike McEwen, guys that I've banged heads against for the last four or five years. Sometimes, you know, within a country, you want to an athlete that's been removed for a couple of years. At least when you jump to another country and work with those athletes, you know, there's not that familiarity or that kind of rivalry.".
Additionally, Gushue will still be based in St. John's, Newfoundland and working remotely, though he'll travel as needed for major events such as the world championships and U.S. Nationals.
"Let's state the elephant in the room. There's some geopolitical tensions with that country. There's risks there as well, but at the end of the day, it really kind of came down to making a decision that was best for me, best for my family, allowed me to have the freedom to watch my kids play and be around them as much as I wanted to be, but also gave me the freedom to still be within the sport that I love and been attached to for the last 32 years of my life," Gushue added. "There was risk in whatever I did. And at the end of the day, I think, and what I've learned today is the people that know me and trust me and really have supported me over the last 25 years of my life have supported me through this decision. They understand that it was not a decision that's made from a political standpoint or to upset anybody. It was made to allow us the best chance to have the best life that we possibly can and get the most enjoyment out of it."
