Latest News

3rd June 2005
Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) presented a Farewell Apéro on the patio of the Pery Bar in Bern on Saturday 28th May. The team took the opportunity to thank their sponsors, their curling club, their coaches and especially their families, friends and fans for their great support over the last four years. The gathering celebrated many great moments and terrific achievements that will stay in mind forever. Thank you all!

10th May 2005
Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) and its team members announce the end of their sporting collaboration. The team was formed in July 2001 with the goal of representing Switzerland at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in February 2006. The team successfully won the 2002 Swiss Championships to qualify for the 2005 Swiss Olympic Trials, but failed at those trials to successfully qualify for the Olympic Games.

Team CC Bern says a big thank you to smartCurling and its partners, especially Brian Gray and Bruno Ris, for their excellent coaching and team development over the last four seasons. The team also thanks the many sponsors and contributors, especially Swisscom IT Services and Egger Bier, for their generous support over the seasons. Finally, the team thanks their families and fans for the invaluable support and encouragement. Without all of the above, the success of this team would not have been possible. Many, many thanks!

Christine Urech will play competitively in a new team in the Swiss League in the upcoming season. Nicole Strausak, Selina Breuleux, Madlaina Breuleux and Bianca Röthlisberger will play fun curling in the coming season(s), with some players leaving the possibility open to play competitively again in the future.

This marks the end of the Turin 2006 smartCurling project. For details of others smartCurling projects, stay tuned to this website.

8th April 2005
The venues for the 2006-2008 World Men's and World Women's Curling Championships have recently been defined by the WCF in Glasgow. The men will play in USA (2006), Canada (2007) and USA (2008), the women will play in Canada (2006), Japan (2007) and Canada (2008).

14th March 2005
Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) just missed out at the Swiss Olympic Trials in Bern and failed to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in February 2006. The team would like to thank the numerous "!!! GO Team CC Bern Zwöi !!!" fans who filled the curling gallery with a sea of red scarves and friendly faces. You are the best! Thank you.

Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would like to congratulate Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2005 Swiss Women's Champion), Team Mirjam Ott (Swiss Women's representative, Turin 2006) and Team Tania Grivel (2005 World Junior Women's Champion).

28th February 2005
The Olympic Trials! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) will compete in the Swiss Olympic Trials from Thursday 3rd March to Sunday 6th March 2005. For live end-to-end results click here. The programme is as follows:

Round Robin (Simply to define Teams 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the Page System)
Thursday 3rd March, 09:00 - Rink 3 - Team CC Bern v Flims
Thursday 3rd March, 14:30 - Rink 4 - Team CC Bern v Bern 1
Thursday 3rd March, 20:00 - Rink 1 - Team CC Bern v Dübendorf
Page System (each pairing is a Best-Of-Three series, at 09:00, 14:30 and 20:00 on the same day)
Friday 4th March, 09:00 - Rink X - Team 1 against Team 2 (Best Of 3)
Friday 4th March, 09:00 - Rink X - Team 3 against Team 4 (Best Of 3)
Saturday 5th March, 09:00 - Rink X - Semi-Final, Loser 1v2 against Winner 3v4 (Best Of 3)
Sunday 6th March, 09:00 - Rink X - Winner 1v2 against Winner Semi-Final (Best Of 3)

More information and results on the Swiss Curling website. Click here for directions to the Curlingbahn Allmend AG, Mingerstrasse 16, 3014 Bern.

24th February 2005
Not Quite! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) win 4 games from 7 to finish 5th in the 2004/2005 Swiss Championships in Bern with 16 points. While 4 wins would be normally suffice for at least a tie-breaker to get into the play-offs, the system (a very good one) defines that half the points earned during the 14-game Qualification Round are taken as the starting point for the Championship Round. This meant that Team CC Bern started 4 points (2 wins) behind the leaders.

The team performances in Bern were excellent, the highlight being a six-end phase in one game where the combined team percentage exceeded 95%. The disappointing series of 4 straight losses in Geneva, due to some short-term health hindrances, ultimately cost the position in the play-offs in Bern.

18th February 2005
The Programme! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) will compete in the Swiss Curling Championships from Saturday 19th February to Saturday 26th February 2005. For live end-to-end results click here. The programme is as follows:

Round Robin
Saturday 19th February, 12:30 - Rink 4 - Team CC Bern v Dübendorf
Sunday 20th February, 10:00 - Rink 5 - Team CC Bern v Wetzikon
Sunday 20th February, 19:00 - Rink 3 - Team CC Bern v Bern 1
Monday 21st February, 14:30 - Rink 6 - Team CC Bern v Flims
Tuesday 22nd February, 10:00 - Rink 4 - Team CC Bern v Lausanne
Tuesday 22nd February, 19:00 - Rink 5 - Team CC Bern v Baden Regio
Wednesday 23rd February, 14:30 - Rink 3 - Team CC Bern v Limmattal
Play-Offs
Friday 25th February, 18:30 - Rinks 5 & 6 - Play-Offs (1v2, 3v4)
Saturday 26th February, 10:00 - Rink 4 - Semi-Final (Loser 1v2 against Winner 3v4)
Saturday 26th February, 17:00 - Rink 5 - Final (Winner 1v2 against Winner Semi-Final)

More information and results on the Swiss Curling website. Click here for directions to the Curlingbahn Allmend AG, Mingerstrasse 16, 3014 Bern. Click here from the programme of events (3Mb).

17th February 2005
Fourth Year! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would like to thank Albert Egger AG Worb, brewers of fine beer, for their continued generous support.

30th January 2005
On Track! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) have successfully qualified for the Championship Round of the 2004/2005 Swiss Championships in Bern in March. In doing so, the team satisfy the final selection criteria for qualification of the 3-Team Swiss Olympic Trials in Bern, from 3rd - 6th March 2005.

As Swiss Champion in March 2002, Team CC Bern have had to satisfy the most selection criteria (7 major hurdles, in series, with zero failure tolerance) of any of the qualified teams, and in doing so have become the longest-standing, unchanged quartet in Swiss Women's Curling. The long-term success is a testament to the dedication of the athletes, and to the high quality of support provided by smartCurling and its Coaching Assistants. Congratulations to all concerned - we are only one step away.

28th January 2005
Third Year! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would like to thank Swisscom IT Services, leading providers of information technology, for their continued generous support.

14th January 2005
IBDC! Short-term illnesses continue to cause problems for Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak). The team will appear at the International Bernese Women's Cup in Bern this weekend without three regular team members, all of whom are bedridden.

9th January 2005
No Excuses! With some short-term hindrances, Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) were unable to perform at their normal level and won just 1 from 5 games in Geneva in the second of three qualification weekends for the Swiss Championships. The team are now in 5th place. More information and results on the Swiss Curling website.

20th December 2004
A Fine Start! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) won 5 from 6 games in Baden in the first of three qualification weekends for the Swiss Championships. More information and results on the Swiss Curling website.

2nd December 2004
Warming Up Nicely! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) competed in two further competitions in Switzerland in November. The team performed well in both events, finishing 5th in Arlesheim in the Wartenberg Trophy, and 2nd in Wetzikon in the International Women's Competition. The next competition is the Swiss Championships in Baden on 17th December. More information and results on the Swiss Curling website.

7th November 2004
Back In Town! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) returned to their native city of Bern to compete in the 60th Walter Linck Trophy, and went undefeated after 5 games to finish in 2nd place from 32 teams. See the results in Bern here. Happy 70th Birthday Bern Curling Club!

22nd October 2004
Awesome! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would like to thank everyone in Canada who helped make the 16-day curling programme in Calgary and Kelowna simply the best ever! Special thanks to Gary, Russ, Deb, Bill, Eric, Penny, all the drivers and volunteers in Calgary and Kelowna, and - as always - Bernice and Ian. Merci!

With defeats against Cathy King (2004 BDO Classic Winner) and Sherry Anderson (2003 Autumn Gold Classic Winner), the team did not reach the quarter-finals this year in Calgary and were out after four rounds. With defeats against Deb Santos (2003 Alberta Provincial Champion), Kelley Law (2000 World Champion) and Shannon Kleibrink, the team did not reach the quarter-finals in Kelowna and were out after six rounds. Perhaps a little too early in our curling calendar. See the BDO Classic results in Kelowna here. The competition in both events was truly world class, and the organisers of the BDO Classic in Kelowna reported 1'000'000 hits on their website during the event.  Thanks to Trail Appliances and BDO Dunwoody for being the sponsors of two awesome Women's Curling Events.

18th September 2004
Congratulations! The smartCurling Project would like to congratulate Bruno Ris for his successful admittance into the SASP (Swiss Association of Sport Psychologists). Bruno has been working on the smartCurling project as Coaching Assistant since July 2001.

17th September 2004
Third Year! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would like to thank Stephan Fluri and everyone at TT GmbH in Muttenz, distributors of H2O Sportswear, for their continued generous support. TT GmbH and H2O have been providing top quality sports clothing to the team since March 2002.

1st September 2004
Record Prize Money! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) will compete in the 2004 BDO Dunwoody Curling Classic in Kelowna in October 2004. The event has prize money totalling CAD$ 100'000, with a cheque for CAD$ 30'000 going to the eventual winner.

1st September 2004
Not Much Room At The Top! When Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) travel to North America in October 2004 to compete in the 2004 Autumn Gold Classic Women's Competition, they'll know it's going to be tough. That's not only because in Calgary there will be - as usual - a world-class field of 32 teams. The other "problem" the team face is that after finishing in 29th place in October 2001, in 9th place in October 2002, and in 3rd place in October 2003, there's very little room to improve at the top!

31st August 2004
100 Years! The smartCurling Project would like to congratulate CC Adelboden on celebrating 100 Years Of Curling in the small alpine village. Article.

7th July 2004
Nice Plans! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) will once again travel to North America to compete in two top-notch women's competitions as part of the Women's Curling Tour in Canada. Both the competitions, in Calgary and Kelowna, are part of the Canada Cup series. The six team members will follow the 16-day curling programme in October 2004.

Team CC Bern were Top European Money Winners in the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 Women's Curling Tour in Canada.

7th July 2004
Young Blood! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) are pleased to announce that Christine Urech has been chosen as the new fifth player of the team. She was appointed on Sunday 6th June. Christine was formerly Fourth player for the 2003 Junior Swiss Champions from Bern, who finished in 5th place at the World Juniors in Trois-Rivières in March 2004.

Christine - as the youngest member of the team at 20 years old - brings with her some youth to the team, not to mention further back-end international experience.

27th March 2004
SM 2004! After winning the round-robin phase of the Championship Round of the 2003/2004 Swiss Championships in Bern, Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) lost the semi-final game 6-4 to the eventual winners from Flims (Mirjam Ott).

Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) won the Bronze Medal, the third successive Swiss Championships medal in their three seasons together. The result was, however, less than expected at the end of what was their most impressive and successful curling season to date. Here are the final results from Bern.

The Swiss Olympic Trials, to be played from 3rd - 6th March 2005 in Bern will now have three contenders: Nicole Strausak (Swiss Champion 2002), Luzia Ebnöther (2003) and Mirjam Ott (2004). The event format is yet to be confirmed by Swiss Curling, but will possibly consist of a straight triple round-robin.

Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) would once again like to thank Paul Mattenberger, Dominique Keller and everyone at the Hotel Schweizerhof Bern, for their phenomenal hospitality during the Championship Round in Bern.

22nd February 2004
SM 2004! Stronger. Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) win 10 straight round-robin games to finish on top of the 2003/2004 Swiss Championships with 22 points. Results on the Swiss Curling website.

20th February 2004
SM 2004! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) play the remaining three of 13 round-robin games in the 2003/2004 Swiss Championships. Results on the Swiss Curling website. Article.

8th February 2004
SM 2004! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) enjoy 5 straight wins in Thun, Switzerland, to successfully qualify for the Championship Round in Bern from 20th to 27th March 2004. The team lead with field with 16 points. Results on the Swiss Curling website.

23rd January 2004
SM 2004! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) play the first of 13 round robin games in 2003/2004 Swiss Championships. Results on the Swiss Curling website.

12th January 2004
WARMING UP! With defeats at the hands of Rhona Martin and Jackie Lockhart, Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) finished in 11th place at the Bern Ladies International Cup. The event was the first competition for the team in six weeks.

1st December 2003
TOP EUROPEAN MONEY WINNER In Canadian Women's Curling Tour! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) have confirmed their position - for the second season running - as the Top European Money Winner in the 2003/2004 Women's Curling Tour in Canada.

Top European Money Winner in the 2001/2002 Women's Curling Tour in Canada was Margaretha Lindahl of Sweden.

30th November 2003
VICTORY! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) won the 12th International Ladies Curling Tournament in Baden/Wetzikon, Switzerland, beating Silvana Tirinzoni in the final.

The total winnings for the team this season now exceed CHF 12'000.

24th November 2003
RUNNER UP! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) finished in 2nd place in the Wartenburg Trophy, Arlesheim, Basel, Switzerland.

15th October 2003
BIG TIME IN CALGARY! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) came through a 32-team world-class field, which included Sherry Middaugh, Sherry Anderson, Cathy King, Rhona Martin, Amber Holland and Heather Nedohin, to finish in 3= place in the CAD$ 46'000 Autumn Gold Curling Classic. Sherry Anderson won the semi-final 6-4 before going on to beat Cathy King in the final 6-5 in an extra end. The Calgary Trail Appliances Ltd Autumn Gold Curling Classic event is one of four top events on the Women's Curling Tour Schedule, with similar prize money available only in Winnipeg, Hamilton and Ottawa.

The 3= result in Calgary puts Team CC Bern currently in the top 10 in the Women's Curling Tour.

29th September 2003
GET READY! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) will travel very soon to compete in two top-notch women's competitions during a two-week tour of Canada. Both the competitions, in Montreal and Calgary, are part of the Canada Cup series.

27th September 2003
BACK TO WORK! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) have first official contact with Swiss Curling. A new era begins, and the team is optimistic, and committed to "collaborate again in the future in the interest of the sport of curling in Switzerland" as was agreed in June.

21st September 2003
VICTORY! Team CC Bern (Nicole Strausak) won their first competition of the season in the picturesque village of Adelboden in the Bernese Oberlands.