Paralympic gold medal winning athlete Jo Butterfield will make her debut for British Curling’s Paralympic Wheelchair Curling Squad when they contest their first event of the 2022/23 season at the Stirling Wheelchair International this week (18-21 October).
The competition also represents the start of the long build-up to the Milan-Cortina Paralympics in 2026 and Hugh Nibloe, who skipped the ParalympicsGB team which went to the Beijing Games earlier this year, is expecting the competition to be fierce as they face prospective Paralympic rivals Norway, Estonia, Italy, Latvia and Switzerland, as well as domestic rivals representing England and host club Stirling.
“The Stirling International is easily the best in our regular calendar and the closest we get to our World Champs, so it’s great that it’s our first stop,” said the two-time Paralympian. 
“We have four teams in the field that are going to the World B’s in a few weeks time, they are going to be tough as they have to peak in a couple of weeks so we know they will be really on fire and putting in their final pieces before they go.
“We will be mixing and matching our squad up and playing in different positions over the week so we will need to be at our best to get results out of all these games.”
The six player British Curling squad will include giving new recruit Butterfield the opportunity to impress and the inclusion of a proven competitor, who won Paralympic gold in athletics in 2016 has been welcomed.
“Jo has been a wonderful addition to the squad. She has brought as much as we are giving her,” said Nibloe.
“She has brought a different perspective and dynamic on things and different learnings from her high level sports performances and has been able to share that with the group. 
“This will be her first competition I am sure she will enjoy it and it is good that we have a big squad at the competition and like all of us will filter in and out of the team, so it is a great chance to get into the routine of a curling competition and our de-briefs and I suspect she will bring a lot to that as well having been involved in another sport before so a fresh perspective will bring us a lot and a new angle.”
Internal competition for places has been identified as crucial in seeking to make the improvements necessary in order for British Curling to win a Paralympic medal for the first time since Sochi in 2014 as Nibloe acknowledged.
“The standard is always getting higher and it feels strange that we are now at the start of the Milan-Cortina cycle as it does not feel that long ago since I was at the start of the cycle for the 2018 Games in PyeongChang,” he said.
“Time does go by very quickly so it is important that we take advantage of opportunities like these.
“Four years sounds a lot in a cycle but it goes by so quickly. We have had lots of changes in the programme and it feels good and there is a bounce in the squad and everyone is enjoying training. 
“With the addition of Mixed Doubles curling for us as well it is going to be exciting as it will give more opportunities for the programme to put us on the world stage and perform.
“We obviously need to raise our standards as our performance at the Beijing Paralympics was nowhere near to what we wanted.
“Our marker this year will be at the World Championships and it is important that everything we do between now and then builds towards that good performance at the worlds and getting points for ParalympicsGB and put us in a good spot.
“A lot of players are excited by the prospect of going to Milan. We have spent a lot of time in the far east in the last two cycles either Korea or China. So the idea of the next Paralympics being in Europe and closer to home is something to look forward to and I think it is going to be a really good cycle.
“We want to keep this energy and bounce within this squad as we work towards the next big opportunity and hope that we peak at the tight time.” 
Games start at 10.00am tomorrow and spectators are welcome to attend the event hosted at the Peak in Stirling - visit the Stirling International website here.
British Curling team:
Jo Butterfield
Gregor Ewan
Charlotte McKenna
Hugh Nibloe
Stewart Pimblett
Gary Smith
Results
Day 1 -10.00am
GBR - ENG 5-2
STR - SUI 2-9
LAT - NOR 7-8
EST - ITA 6-7
Day 1 - 2.30pm
GBR - ITA 6-5
ENG - EST 7-2
LAT - STR 11-1
NOR - SUI 6-4
Day 2 - 10.00am
GBR - NOR 8-7 (EE)
LAT - ITA 6-8
ENG - SUI 10-11
EST - STR 6-8
Day 2 - 2.30pm
GBR - STR 5-4
NOR - EST 10-1
ENG - LAT 1-7
SUI - ITA 4-5
GBR 4W - 0L after day 2.
Day 3 - 10.00am
GBR - SUI 6-5
NOR - ENG 10-4
ITA - STR 8-5
LAT - EST 5-9
Day 3 - 2.30pm
GBR -EST 3-7
SUI - LAT 5-7
ITA - ENG 10-2
STR - NOR 5-6
GBR 5W - 1L after day 3.
(ITA & NOR also tied on 5W-1L)
Day 4 - 9.30am
GBR - LAT 8-5
ITA - NOR 7-5
STR - ENG 7-6
SUI - EST 9-3
