PLAYER BIOGRAPHY

Name: Phill Drobnick

Age: 28

Position: Coach

Hometown: Eveleth, MN

Family: Wife- Laura Drobnick, Dad- Tim Drobnick, and Mom- Linda Drobnick

Nickname: Drobs

3 Words that Best Describe Me: Passionate, organized, & talkative

PERSONAL INTERESTS

Favorite Food: Pizza and Ice Cream

Hobbies (other than curling!): Golfing, Tennis, hunting, gambling, baseball, college hockey, and traveling

Favorite Music/Performers: I like a little bit of everything. My favorite era is the 80’s! Poison, Billy Joel, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, and Tom Petty are among the few. My wife also got me into listening to country. I like Toby Keith the best. As for current artists I really like listening to Akon’s music.

Favorite Actors/Movies/TV Shows: My favorite TV show of all time is Seinfeld. I have seen every episode about 30 times. I still watch all of the reruns on TV every time they are on. My favorite current show is The Hills on MTV. I started watching it when it was Laguna Beach and have continued for the last 6 years. I also try to fin time to watch Brothers and Sisters. My favorite movies are Tin Cup and Miracle. My favorite actress is Jennifer Aniston.

CURLING

Home Club: Duluth Curling Club and Curl Mesabi

Years Curling: 22

Curls: Right-handed

How I Got Started: I got started at age 6 when my Mom and Dad would take me to the club to throw rocks. When ever they would go to practice they would take me along to play on the ice. I haven’t left the ice since then!

Mentors/Tell About Them: My Dad is one of my mentors in the game of curling. He is the one who got me started in the game. He would spend time practicing with me at a young age. He was the first coach that I ever had and taught me a lot about the game. I also got the opportunity to with him and both of my Grandpa’s in league for many years. This is something that I will always cherish. As for coaching one of my mentors was Scott Baird. He was my coach when I went to my first Jr. World Championship. He also came along with me when I coached in my first Jr. World Championship. I was able to learn a lot about coaching from him over the years. He has been one of the smartest skips in the game for over 3 decades. It is very helpful to sit next to him and listen to him talk about any game on the ice.

Career Highlights (In Your Own Words): I have been involved in the game of curling for a long time for my age. I started to play at a very young age. I also started to compete at a very young age. As a player I won my first Jr. State and National Championship in 2000 after many runner-up finishes. In 2000 I played 3rd for Randy Baird. We competed in the Jr. World Championship in Germany finishing 6th place. I played with Scott Baird form 2001-2003. In 2001 we finished 3rd at the US National Championship. At the 2002 Olympic Trials we finished tied for 2nd and received the Bronze Medal. I also played in the US National Championships in 2003, 2008, and 2009 in the Olympic Trials as a player/coach.

I started to coach in 2006. The first team I coached was the Chris Plys rink. We won the US National Championships that year and went on to win the next 3 from 2007-2009. In 2007 I had the privilege to coach the US Team (Plys) in the World Championships at my home club. In addition to coaching, I was the chairman of the World Championship that year. In 2008 our team traveled to Sweden for the Jr. World Championship. We finished the round robin in 3rd. We won the 3-4 game and the Semi-Final game against Norway and Canada. In the finals we defeated Sweden to win the Jr. World Championship. This was the first Jr. Men’s World Championship for the US in 25 years. In 2009 our bid to defend our title was ended in the semi-final game with a loss to Denmark. We took home the bronze medal. In addition to the Jr. Worlds the Plys team qualified for the 2010 US Olympic Trials as the youngest team in the event. I also coached the Aileen Sormunen rink for the 2008-2009 season. We qualified for the 2010 US Olympic Trails only to finish 5th and 1 game short of the semi-finals. Aileen was also the youngest skip on the women’s side. After the US Olympic Trials I was selected by the John Shuster Team and the USCA to coach the Men’s team at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Curling Achievements:

• U.S. Olympic Team Trials: 2009, 2001 (3rd)
• U.S. National Championships: 2009 (8th), 2008 (5th), 2003, 2001 (semifinalist)
• Minnesota State Men’s Championships: 2003 (champion)
• World Junior Championships: 2000 (6th)
• U.S. Junior National Championships: 2000 (champion)
• Minnesota State Junior Championships: 2000 (champion)
• U.S. and Canadian World Curling Tour Events

Coaching Achievements:

• U.S. Olympic Team Trials: 2009 (Plys Team)
• World Junior Championships: 2009 (bronze – Plys), 2008 (gold – Plys), 2007 (5th – Plys)
• U.S. Junior National Championships: 2009 (champion – Plys), 2008 (champion – Plys), 2007 (champion – Plys)

Related Achievements:

• 2008 US Curling Association Coach of the Year
• 2007 Chair – World Junior Curling Championships, Curl Mesabi, Eveleth, MN
• 2008-2009 Junior Women’s Coach – Aileen Sormunen Rink
• Chair – Curl Mesabi Super One Shootout; World Curling Tour Event: 2005-Present