Team Stopera
Donation protected
Welcome to Our GoFundMe Campaign
We are Team Stopera, a U.S. Men’s Junior Curling Team with the goal of winning the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland. During our season, we will incur various costs that include travel, lodging, and entry fees. We are asking you to contribute to our team to support us as we pursue our aspirations.
Meet the Team:
Our team consists of Andrew Stopera, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Graem Fenson, Caleb Clawson and coach Mark Lazar. This is our second year as a group and we are coming off of a successful 2016/2017 season in which we won the 2017 US Junior Men’s National Curling Championships, the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Men’s Curling Championships in South Korea and USA Curling's 2017 Team of the Year.
Andrew is from Briarcliff Manor, NY and attends college at Northwestern University in Chicago, splitting his time between the two during the curling season. Picking up the game at age 7, Andrew has enjoyed much success throughout his young career, participating in five junior national championships, medaling in each one, and two men’s national championships. More recently, Andrew had the highest percentage at skip during the 2017 World Junior Championships.
Luc hails from Lake Stevens, WA and will attend the University of Washington beginning this fall. He began curling very early in life at age 5, learning the game from his father. He won the US Junior Nationals in 2014 and a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) silver medal in 2016 before the formation of Team Stopera last season. At the World Junior Championships in 2017, Luc finished the competition with the best shooting percentage at the third position.
Ben is from Issaquah, WA and will be making the trek across the country this year to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A talented cello player, Ben took to curling relatively recently, first getting on the ice in 2012. Since starting, his curling career has taken off quickly as he qualified for the Junior Nationals in 2014 and teamed up with Luc to take home the YOG silver medal in 2016. For the majority of the 2016/17 season, Ben played second for Team Stopera.
Graem comes from Bemidji, MN and will stay in his hometown to study at Bemidji State University this fall. Coming from a long line of accomplished curlers, Graem has continued his family’s tradition of success, first breaking onto the junior scene in 2014 with a bronze medal at Junior Nationals. Graem played lead for Team Stopera for the entirety of the 2016/17 season.
Caleb is from Clarksville, MD and and will be attending Trent University in Ontario this year. He is a new addition to Team Stopera, joining the squad after playing second for Team Clawson during the 2016/17 season. He started curling in 2007 with his two brothers at the Potomac Curling Club. His most notable achievements are winning the U18 Optimist Championship in 2014, the US Junior National silver medal in 2016, and the US Mixed National Championships in 2017.
Upcoming Season
We will be playing an extensive schedule to prepare for our major competitions. Below is our tentative 2017/18 schedule:
Sept. 8-10 Royal Slam (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)
Sept. 14-17 Stu Sells Junior Tankard (Toronto, Ontario)
Oct. 6-8 St. Paul Cashspiel (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Oct. 13-15 Kalamazoo Men's Classic (Kalamazoo,
Michigan)
Oct. 26-29 BrokerLink-OVCA Junior SuperSpiel (Ottawa, Ontario)
Nov. 17-19 Fort Wayne Mad Anthony CashSpiel (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
Dec. 8-10 Curl Mesabi Classic (Eveleth, Minnesota)
Dec. 15-21 Qinghai China Men’s International (Xining, China)
Dec. 29 - Jan 1 Asham US Open (Blaine, Minnesota)
Jan. 3 - 7 US Men’s Challenge Round (Bismarck, North Dakota)
Jan. 27 - Feb 3 US Junior Men’s National Championships (Ferndale, Michigan)
*Mar. 3-11 World Junior Men’s Championships (Aberdeen, Scotland)
*Per qualification
Why we need your help
Although we are a High Performance team and receive support from USA Curling, the funds we are given cover a small percentage of the costs that come with our travel, lodging, entry fees, and food among other things. As college students, it is difficult for us to pay the expensive costs of a curling season. Please help support us this season as we pursue a World Junior Championship. Any amount of money you can contribute will help immensely and will be greatly appreciated.
In exchange for your generous contribution, below are the benefits you will receive:
$20 - Receive a shoutout on our facebook page
$50 - Receive a signed thank you card from the team and all the above
$500 - Receive a thank you plaque from the team and all the above
$1000+ - Please contact [email redacted] for sponsorship inquiries
*More benefits to be added at a later date
We hope that you will choose to support us this season and cannot wait for you to join the Team Stopera family.
If you have any questions or inquiries, please do not hesitate to email us at [email redacted].
To stay up to date on our season, follow us on Facebook at Team Stopera and on Twitter @TeamStopera.
We are Team Stopera, a U.S. Men’s Junior Curling Team with the goal of winning the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland. During our season, we will incur various costs that include travel, lodging, and entry fees. We are asking you to contribute to our team to support us as we pursue our aspirations.
Meet the Team:
Our team consists of Andrew Stopera, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Graem Fenson, Caleb Clawson and coach Mark Lazar. This is our second year as a group and we are coming off of a successful 2016/2017 season in which we won the 2017 US Junior Men’s National Curling Championships, the silver medal at the 2017 World Junior Men’s Curling Championships in South Korea and USA Curling's 2017 Team of the Year.
Andrew is from Briarcliff Manor, NY and attends college at Northwestern University in Chicago, splitting his time between the two during the curling season. Picking up the game at age 7, Andrew has enjoyed much success throughout his young career, participating in five junior national championships, medaling in each one, and two men’s national championships. More recently, Andrew had the highest percentage at skip during the 2017 World Junior Championships.
Luc hails from Lake Stevens, WA and will attend the University of Washington beginning this fall. He began curling very early in life at age 5, learning the game from his father. He won the US Junior Nationals in 2014 and a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) silver medal in 2016 before the formation of Team Stopera last season. At the World Junior Championships in 2017, Luc finished the competition with the best shooting percentage at the third position.
Ben is from Issaquah, WA and will be making the trek across the country this year to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A talented cello player, Ben took to curling relatively recently, first getting on the ice in 2012. Since starting, his curling career has taken off quickly as he qualified for the Junior Nationals in 2014 and teamed up with Luc to take home the YOG silver medal in 2016. For the majority of the 2016/17 season, Ben played second for Team Stopera.
Graem comes from Bemidji, MN and will stay in his hometown to study at Bemidji State University this fall. Coming from a long line of accomplished curlers, Graem has continued his family’s tradition of success, first breaking onto the junior scene in 2014 with a bronze medal at Junior Nationals. Graem played lead for Team Stopera for the entirety of the 2016/17 season.
Caleb is from Clarksville, MD and and will be attending Trent University in Ontario this year. He is a new addition to Team Stopera, joining the squad after playing second for Team Clawson during the 2016/17 season. He started curling in 2007 with his two brothers at the Potomac Curling Club. His most notable achievements are winning the U18 Optimist Championship in 2014, the US Junior National silver medal in 2016, and the US Mixed National Championships in 2017.
Upcoming Season
We will be playing an extensive schedule to prepare for our major competitions. Below is our tentative 2017/18 schedule:
Sept. 8-10 Royal Slam (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)
Sept. 14-17 Stu Sells Junior Tankard (Toronto, Ontario)
Oct. 6-8 St. Paul Cashspiel (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Oct. 13-15 Kalamazoo Men's Classic (Kalamazoo,
Michigan)
Oct. 26-29 BrokerLink-OVCA Junior SuperSpiel (Ottawa, Ontario)
Nov. 17-19 Fort Wayne Mad Anthony CashSpiel (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
Dec. 8-10 Curl Mesabi Classic (Eveleth, Minnesota)
Dec. 15-21 Qinghai China Men’s International (Xining, China)
Dec. 29 - Jan 1 Asham US Open (Blaine, Minnesota)
Jan. 3 - 7 US Men’s Challenge Round (Bismarck, North Dakota)
Jan. 27 - Feb 3 US Junior Men’s National Championships (Ferndale, Michigan)
*Mar. 3-11 World Junior Men’s Championships (Aberdeen, Scotland)
*Per qualification
Why we need your help
Although we are a High Performance team and receive support from USA Curling, the funds we are given cover a small percentage of the costs that come with our travel, lodging, entry fees, and food among other things. As college students, it is difficult for us to pay the expensive costs of a curling season. Please help support us this season as we pursue a World Junior Championship. Any amount of money you can contribute will help immensely and will be greatly appreciated.
In exchange for your generous contribution, below are the benefits you will receive:
$20 - Receive a shoutout on our facebook page
$50 - Receive a signed thank you card from the team and all the above
$500 - Receive a thank you plaque from the team and all the above
$1000+ - Please contact [email redacted] for sponsorship inquiries
*More benefits to be added at a later date
We hope that you will choose to support us this season and cannot wait for you to join the Team Stopera family.
If you have any questions or inquiries, please do not hesitate to email us at [email redacted].
To stay up to date on our season, follow us on Facebook at Team Stopera and on Twitter @TeamStopera.
Organizer and beneficiary
Andrew Stopera
Organizer
Briarcliff Manor, NY
William Stopera
Beneficiary