{"id":113368,"date":"2016-06-07T09:22:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T13:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=113368"},"modified":"2018-02-28T16:35:07","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T21:35:07","slug":"steve-emt-curling-way-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/06\/steve-emt-curling-way-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Emt, Curling His Way to South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, men’s basketball head coach Kevin Ollie opened the first of his wheelchair-accessible Kevin\u2019s Kourts<\/a> at the Boys and Girls Club in Hartford<\/a>. He says his concern for athletes with disabilities began when a former teammate, walk-on player Steve Emt, became paralyzed. Here’s Emt’s story.<\/em><\/p>\n

To read more stories from the latest edition of UConn Magazine, go to the Magazine website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When a stranger approached Steve Emt and said, \u201cI could make you into a Paralympic curler in one year,\u201d Emt says he had two questions for the guy: What\u2019s a curler? And where do I sign up?<\/p>\n

On a whim, Emt, a lifelong New Englander then in his early 40s, had decided to make his first trip to Cape Cod. When he got there and found a hotel, he asked the proprietor to suggest a few must-dos, which included cinnamon rolls from Pie in the Sky bakery.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe didn\u2019t tell me I\u2019d have to park my truck and roll up a steep hill to get to it,\u201d says Emt.<\/p>\n

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I had no idea this sport existed three years ago, and now I\u2019m the vice-skip of Team USA. — Steve Emt<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But Emt started pushing his wheelchair up the hill and had made it about halfway when Tony Colacchio, a curling coach from a nearby club, caught a glimpse of him from the road below. Colacchio couldn\u2019t stop his car right there, but turned around the first chance he got, and ended up spending 45 minutes searching for Emt, whom he found sitting under a tree still enjoying his breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now he\u2019s my coach on the Cape, and I go every weekend,\u201d says Emt, who recently returned from his second World Wheelchair Championship and two years ago was named to Team USA, with whom he is indeed training for the 2018 Paralympics.<\/p>\n