# @lohudsports on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DICP4RQPp0d
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/29026723-lohudsports-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ea5930553f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-04-04T18:43:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** lohud sports (@lohudsports) — https://gondola.cc/lohudsports

## Caption

The 27-year-old Andrew Stopera, a 2015 Hackley School graduate who later graduated from Northwestern University, followed his father and grandfather into curling.

While his team can earn prize money and are given a yearly allowance by USA Curling, he and his teammates hold jobs that allow them to both pay their bills and pursue their passion. Stopera works in insurance. This contrasts with elite curlers in many other countries, who are either, in some instances, directly paid a full-time salary by their countries to curl and/or receive large government bonuses for strong finishes or are full-time curlers who are technically members of the military or police.

But while he'd like to see more support for American curlers, Stopera isn't complaining. Curling has taken him from the Ardsley club to multiple parts of the world. Stopera, who now lives in Minnesota, is a three-year member of Team Dropkin, which scored a historic semifinals win at nationals, beating legendary curler John Schuster and his team. Schuster is a five-time Olympian and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. "It was a little like conquering demons," Stopera says.

And, of course, one of the demon slayers was someone who learned to curl far removed from the Midwest, the hotbed of U.S. curling. The win over Schuster further amplified the Ardsley Curling Club's name, which got another lift in the championship as Team Dropkin won the national title with a finals victory over Team Casper, which is captained by Danny Casper, who also grew up on the ice at Ardsley.

🔗 : See the Q&A done with Stopera after nationals at our link in bio.

📸: USA Curling/C. Kerns Photography
✍: Nancy Haggerty nancyhaggertysportsreporter

#lohudSports #curling andrewstopera usa_curl #usacurling #teamusa ardsleycurlingclub hackley.school northwesternu

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## Tags

curling, teamusa, lohudsports, usacurling

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