Brian Gray to coach Estonian curling athletes

The Estonian Curling Association is pleased to announce that an agreement has been entered into with Scotland-born coach Brian Gray.

Brian Gray has been working with Team Estonia MD 2016 (Marie Turmann and Harri Lill), and helped Estonia to secure 6th place at the 2016 WMDCC. This result has earned Estonia 7 qualification points towards the 2018 Winter Olympics. Under the agreement, Brian will also be coaching our national team at the 2017 WMDCC in Lethbridge.

We believe that Brian does not need much introduction, having 18 years’ experience on the international curling circuit. Highlights of his work to date include podium finishes at World, European A, European B and European C Championships, most notably with Switzerland, Latvia and Turkey. It is an ideal situation that our athletes are able to train with such an experienced coach during this crucial phase.

As well as coaching Team Estonia MD 2017, Brian will also stage camps in Tallinn open to all curlers. There will be one camp each month from September 2016 until April 2017. All Estonian curling teams have been encouraged to attend these camps in order to raise their level of play. We wish Brian all the best with our Estonian athletes!

 Brian Gray: simply curl better!

According to coach Brian Gray, collaboration with Estonian curling is nothing new. “We held workshops back in 2005 and 2007, in the previous curling hall in Tallinn. Last December, Harri Lill asked me to help coach his men’s curling team, and we met up in the ice in Riga. Our collaboration restarted from there.”

Estonia is one of the six countries where Brian has worked as a coach, having also coached elite men and women’s teams from Switzerland, Latvia, Turkey, Italy and Czech Republic at various international championships. “Since working with Switzerland at the start of my career, I was always interested in ‘borderline nations’ – nations which are on the border between two ‘worlds’, just like Estonia,” says the experienced curling coach.

“My expectations are clear and already communicated to the teams: I want to help you to simply curl better,” said Brian. According to the coach, this means that each player and each team plays curling at an increasingly higher level. “This fuels their desire to invest more in the sport. We need these youngsters to invest … this way, Estonia as a curling nation can reach its goals,” elaborated Brian.