William Stopera (born August 13, 1968) is an American curler from

Briarcliff Manor Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor inc ...

, New York.

Career

Stopera began curling at the Schenectady Curling Club in 1977 as a junior in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. In 2009, Stopera teamed up with

Matt Hames Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

, Martin Sather, and

Dean Gemmell Dean Gemmell (born August 27, 1967) is a Canadian-American curler and writer who currently resides in Short Hills, New Jersey. Along with John Morris, he is the co-author of the book ''Fit to Curl, Sport Specific Training for the World's Greate ...

, and finished 4th at the 2010 United States Men's Curling Championship. The next year, Heath McCormick joined the team, replacing Matt Hames, who retired as skip. That year Stopera and the team competed in the 2011 United States Men's Curling Championship, finishing fourth after a playoff loss to

Todd Birr Todd Birr (born April 20, 1968) is an American curler. He was a bronze medalist at the 2007 World Men's Curling Championship. Career Birr skipped his team to victory at the 2007 United States Curling Men's Championships, beating out teams su ...

. Stopera returned with the team the next year to play in the 2012 nationals and went through the round robin undefeated, eventually securing their first national title with a win over defending champion

Pete Fenson Peter Fenson (born February 29, 1968 in Bemidji, Minnesota) is an American curler. He was the skip of the men's rink that represented the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they won the bronze medal, the first Olympic medal for th ...

. The team finished the event at 12–0. After winning the National Championship, the team played in the

2012 World Men's Curling Championship The 2012 World Men's Curling Championship was held from March 31 to April 8, 2012 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. The 2012 World Men's Championship was one of the curling events that is a qualifier for the curling tournament at the 2 ...

in Basel, Switzerland.Stallone, Gina
"Curling: World championships await duo from Briarclff, Hastings"
''

The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. ''The Journal News'' was created through a merger of ...

'' (Lower Hudson Valley, N.Y.), March 6, 2012. Retrieved on June 1, 2013. The team finished 8th with a record of 4–7. In 2013, Stopera competed with team North America and won the

Continental Cup of Curling The Continental Cup is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America (sometimes just Canada) against teams from the rest of the World (sometimes just Europe). Each side is represented by six teams (three women's teams and thr ...

. He also competed in the 2013 US Men's National Championship and finished fourth after a playoff loss to eventual winner

Brady Clark Brady William Clark (born April 18, 1973) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Brady is a class of 1991 graduate of Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon and 1996 graduate of the University of San Diego, where he played college bas ...

. The following season at the 2013 Olympic Trials, the team finished in 3rd place with a 4–4 record. McCormick left team midway through the 2013–14 season, and

Tyler George Tyler George (born October 6, 1982) is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a three-time U.S. Champion, 2016 World bronze medalist, and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. Since the 2018 Olympics, he has taken a break from playing competitiv ...

was brought on to skip. The George rink played in the 2014 United States Men's Curling Championship, finishing with a 4–5 record. After the season, George left the team and was replaced with Gemmell as skip, with Sather playing lead and new addition Calvin Weber at second. Midway through the season, Mark Lazar was brought on to play lead and replace Calvin Weber, moving Martin Sather to second. The team qualified for the

2015 United States Men's Curling Championship The 2015 United States Men's Curling Championship was held from February 14 to 21 at the Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was held in conjunction with the 2015 United States Women's Curling Championship. The winning John Shuster rink we ...

where they finished 5th after losing in a tie-breaker. At the end of the 2015, Stopera went to the 2015 United States Club Men's Championship in Fargo, North Dakota with his son

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

, Peter Austin and George Austin. There, the team won the bronze medal with a 7–5 record. For the 2015-2016 curling season, Heath McCormick returned to the team as skip with

moving back to second and Martin Sather leaving to form a new team. The rink retained Mark Lazar at lead and added

Andrew Stopera Andrew Stopera (born September 30, 1997) is an American curler from Briarcliff Manor, New York. He currently throws third rocks and skips Team Korey Dropkin. He is a three-time United States Junior Champion and won the silver medal at the 201 ...

as its alternate. Stopera and team qualified for the 2016 United States Men's Curling Championship in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

where they had a poor showing, coming in 10th place. Later in the year, Stopera returned to the Club National Championships, this time with Martin Sather replacing his son

at skip. Despite losing second Peter Austin to a torn abdominal muscle he suffered while sweeping in the middle of the competition, Stopera and his 3-man team won the championship, defeating

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

in the final.

Personal life

Stopera grew up in Schenectady, New York, and studied at Northeastern University. He works as an insurance broker with Professional Group Marketing. He is married and has two children, Megan and

Teams

Statistics

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stopera, Bill 1968 births Living people Northeastern University alumni American male curlers People from Briarcliff Manor, New York Sportspeople from Schenectady, New York American curling champions Continental Cup of Curling participants