Photo by USA Curling

Three-time national champion and U.S. Curling Association Hall of Fame member Steve Brown (Madison, Wis.) has been named team coach for the 2006 U.S. Paralympic Team.

Wheelchair curling will make its debut as a medal event at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in March in Torino, Italy.

USA's Paralympic team will be determined Dec. 9-11 at a special selection camp held in Utica, N.Y. The athletes will participate in individual skills competitions, with five members selected to represent the U.S. in Torino March 10-19, 2006.

Brown, one of curling's most decorated athletes and coaches, most recently served as head coach for Team USA at the 2004 Women's World Championship with daughter Erika's team, finishing fourth. 

Wheelchair curling will be one of four sports contested at the Paralympic Games. Sledge hockey, Nordic skiing and alpine skiing are the other sports. The 2006 Paralympics marks the 30th anniversary of the Paralympic Winter Games.

In addition to winning two bronze medals at the World Men's Championship (1986, 1991), Brown was a member of the teams which won gold at the 2002 World Senior Championships and silver at the 2004 World Seniors. He also is a two-time U.S. mixed national champion.

Brown has coached at the 1998 Olympics, World Junior Championships, Men's and Women's World Champion-ships, U.S. Men's and Women's National Championships, Men's and Women's Junior National Championships, the World Junior B Championships, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Brown was named USA Curling's Coach of the Year in 1996.

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Hilton as well as by General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.