Approved Coaches


Brian Gray

Brian Gray has demonstrated significant innovation and creativity in his 20+ year coaching career. He starting coaching junior curlers in 1983, and has coached elite teams since 1998.

In his resident Switzerland, he achieved a number of significant "firsts", and has been credited in part for a curling transformation which took place in Swiss Women's curling in the late 90's. Team leader at that time was Bern's Nicole Strausak, who was joined at skip by Zürich's Luzia Ebnöther in late 1998. "She {Ebnöther} was the toughest person I ever had to coach", admits Gray, "but once I addressed significant lacks in game understanding, her skipping and playing performance improved considerably". The Bern CC team went on with Gray to win Swiss Gold in 1999 and World Silver in 2000, the latter being a feat that remains in 2011 unmatched by any Swiss Women's team or coach since 1984.

As Strausak departed the team in 2000, she went on to form a new team with CC Bern - and Gray - and promptly won Swiss Gold again in 2002. As Bern CC 2 she and her team defeated old team-mate Ebnöther in the final. Brian Gray earned the distinction of becoming one of very few coaches to become Swiss Champion with two different teams, in the first season together with the team. And this at a time when Swiss Women's curling was very much on a high.

Disillusioned by the - at best questionable - Swiss Curling Association regime between 2001 to 2005, Brian Gray ceased to train Swiss teams after the Swiss Olympic Trials in March 2005. Instead, he turned his attention to Eastern Europe and embarked on a number of exciting projects with smartCurling, most noticeably with Latvia. His love of the country and the people led to a very close working relationship with the Latvian Curling Association and a number of elite teams, all who were vying to be the first Latvian team to qualify for the World Curling Championships.

In 2007, at the European Championships in Füssen, he was instrumental in helping the Latvian Men's Team skipped by Ritvars Gulbis to their nation's first ever Curling Medal, European B Bronze. Under Brian Gray's guidance, the team leaped up the European Rankings from 21st (in Garmisch-Partenkirchen) to 13th (in Füssen) in just 24 months.

In 2009, at the European Championships in Aberdeen, the Latvian Women's Team skipped by Iveta Stasa-Sarsune achieved their nation's first ever Curling Gold Medal, and in so-doing qualified Latvia for the European A Group. That same week, Team Stasa-Sarsune went on to qualify Latvia for their first ever team World Championships, in Swift Current in March 2010. Team Stasa-Sarsune has been working with Brian Gray since 2005, and is a member team of the smartCurling Team Development Programme (sCTDi).

In 2010, at the European Championships in Champéry, the Latvian Men's Team skipped by Ritvars Gulbis finally qualified Latvia for the European A Group. The accomplishment confirmed Latvia as a top-10 curling nation, with both the men and women having secured a place in the European A Group. The accomplishment also confirmed Brian Gray as one of Europe's most productive coaches. "This is a very good day", he commented in Champéry in December 2010. "Latvia is a pretty small country with just over 200 curlers, but both national teams are now in the top 10 in Europe. All the work, all the 4.30am starts, all the rainy nights in Riga ... it's all paid off. I'm one happy coach."

Brian Gray is credited as being a leader in the area of curling strategy and team building. He has the rare ability to formulate curling strategy in a manner that most athletes can readily understand. "When he speaks, we listen. But more importantly, we understand! It's as simple as that", one athlete commented in 2007. Another athlete commented "I've visited a number of curling camps and seminars, but no-one that I have met can explain strategy like Brian can. I believe he has a rare talent."

Brian currently lives in Bern, Switzerland. He is a specialist in Industrial Automation, running his own consultancy company in Bern since 2000. He works (and coaches) in English, French and German. During his long and diverse work career, he has executed projects in a wide variety of locations around the world. The toughest of these locations include the West African Jungle and various Offshore Oil Production Platforms in the North Sea. These harsh environments have probably contributed to his very optimistic and make-it-happen working and coaching approach. Nowadays, he works in more luxurious environments, providing industrial automation expertise to the Swiss and International Pharmaceutical and Food & Beverage manufacturing industries.

In his spare time, Brian likes to ski, curl, travel, and drive his Jag.

Nicole Strausak

Click here to contact Brian Gray.

Click here to view Brian Gray's World Curling Federation profile.