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Newcomer’s Series: Wheelchair Curling Team’s Lone Female a Fixture on the Ice at Paralympic Winter Games
By Marvin Olberding
// U.S. Paralympics
// March 13, 2006
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Danell Libby has been a staple as lead for the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Curling Team.
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Danell Libby has earned two unique distinctions at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Not only did she become the first U.S. woman to compete in wheelchair curling at the Games, but she also became the first U.S. player, male or female, to throw a stone in a Paralympic match.
Wheelchair curling is making its debut as a medal sport at the Games in 2006. Rules for the competition call for at least one male and one female on the rink at all times during competition. As the only female on the team, Libby will be the one constant on the rink for the U.S. squad, playing lead, while head coach Steve Brown (Madison, Wis.) shuffles the three remaining spots between Libby’s four teammates: Jimmy Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.), Jim Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.) and Wes Smith (Glenburn, Maine).
Libby said she realizes the responsibility that comes with her role on the team.
“Being the only female means that I will have to compete in every game,” Libby said. “It will also mean keeping my spirits and level of play up for every game to make sure that the team can go into each game being able to do the same. It is quite the challenge, but it is also very rewarding and quite an honor.”
Libby, who is also a wheelchair basketball player, was first introduced to wheelchair curling in 2001, while working with Smith at Alpha One, an independent living center in Maine. Smith approached her and asked about her interest in competing in the first-ever World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Switzerland. Libby said yes, although she then had to ask what curling was.
Smith asked her to come to a weekend practice so she could see the game first-hand. From the first practice, she was hooked.
“I got there and, long story short, although I was used to a much more physical sport, the strategy of curling had me hooked in no time,” Libby said.
Since that first practice, Libby has on two World Championships teams, along with Smith, and has finished fifth both times. One thing she has noticed in that time is the progression in the collective skill at the competitions.
“It seems that each year, and with each competition, it becomes more intense and each player from each team that has been in this for the last couple of years has grown in equal proportions,” Libby said.
For the Games in Torino, Libby feels her team can be more competitive than any previous team the U.S. has assembled.
“This is the best team we’ve put forth for international competition,” Libby said. “Everybody can play every position. We’re definitely a medal contender.”
In addition to being a first-time Paralympian, Libby is also balancing the roles of full-time employee and single mother to her 11-year-old son. A gargantuan task for anyone, Libby said she’s been fortunate enough to receive a lot of support from her family, friends and her job.
“It’s been very stressful, but my job has been very flexible,” Libby said. “I just moved into a new house, and I’m two hours from the curling club. But everybody’s been very helpful.”
Libby, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 1987, says her son, Jeffrey, has been one of her great motivators to push herself in everything she does.
“I want him to learn and know that no matter what life hits us with, we can continue on and not to look at these things that can happen to us as stumbling blocks, but as stepping stones to climb higher and reach further and never give in,” Libby said.
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