Curling Canada's CEO announces his departure. What's next?

Curling Canada is looking for a new leader.

With the announcement that the organization's Chief Executive Officer of eight years, Greg Stremlaw, is leaving, the sport's national governing body has a big chair to fill. The most suitable candidate might be someone who was considered right for the job when Stremlaw was hired in 2007.

Disciplined, effective, at times brash and - to some - a royal pain in the keister - Stremlaw's time at the helm of what was known as the Canadian Curling Association until earlier this year has been marked with a litany of successes as well as no shortage of controversy.

It's true that Curling Canada is in a very decent position right now, with Stremlaw's leadership being integral to those successes. Most of those corporate wins are listed in the media release and include the most important of all; a move from in-the-red finances to what Curling Canada now claims is a "multi-million dollar surplus and long-term financial reserve."

“This is simply the right time to move on,” Stremlaw says in the release. "The organization is now in a maintenance phase of the operation rather than rebuilding, so it’s a very good time to see a new operational leader best suited for that role.”

What's next for Stremlaw might be clear only to him right now. With dual citizenship, he is free to ply his trade on either side of the border. With his successes in building the financial war chest for Curling Canada, he can fairly claim to be the kind of guy that can whip an organization into financial and organizational shape. Indeed, that might just be what he's after next. It has been said that Stremlaw's interests lie in building organizations up, not maintaining them once they've gotten there.

Might his next step be a reworking of the Canadian Olympic Committee's machinery? Marcel Aubut, the president of the COC was effusive in his praise for Stremlaw.

“Today’s news is a big loss for Curling Canada," Aubut is quoted as saying in the Curling Canada media release. "He is one of my go-to-people for leadership and I intend to ensure the Canadian Olympic Committee continues to be partnered with him going forward in one way or another as he is a significant asset to what we do in many different ways.”

Stremlaw's tenure includes ship-shaping the finances for Curling Canada as well as leading the organization towards a philanthropic thrust, with the birth of the "For The Love Of Curling" campaign as well as a major re-branding that saw the old CCA name and logo brushed aside for the new Curling Canada moniker and logo.

However, not all has been rosy under Stremlaw's reign.

The reworking of both the Scotties and Brier formats - called "relegation" by most but "pre-qualification" by Curling Canada - was immediately met with howls of indignation when announced two years ago and and there seemed no real cessation of that when the changes were fully employed this past February and March (See number 4 in my list of top ten stories of the 2014-15 season). And some, like Quebec's Jean-Michel Ménard openly complained about what they saw as a diminished national stage experience for competitors.

With Stremlaw's imminent departure, Curling Canada's board now turns its attention to naming his successor. No procedures for doing that have yet been announced, but the employing of a search committee or outside firm to collect the names and resumes of possible successors has not been ruled out.

One name that will most certainly be on that list is that of Anne Merklinger, the retired competitive curler who might well have been appointed the head of the Canadian Curling Association in 2007 had Stremlaw not been chosen. Since that turn of events, Merklinger has shown her organizational abilities  as she scaled the ladder at Own The Podium, becoming the CEO of the country's Olympic excellence program in 2012.

She would give the top of Curling Canada's pyramid a different look, and there would be a large contingent of current competitors who would like to see a former player's sensibilities colour the office of CEO.

No matter who Stremlaw's successor is, she or he will face a number of challenges going forward, even though Stremlaw's stewardship has placed Curling Canada in what appears to be a strong position.

Television numbers are very, very healthy, it's true and that's important. However, the turnstile clicking at big Curling Canada events - The Brier and Scotties and the like - is not what it used to be and some feel that trend is in need of great attention. As well, the big sponsor - Tim Hortons - was purchased by foreign interests last year. With a Brazilian company owning majority share - with a track record for cutting its operations so as to be as lean as is humanly possible - there are very real fears that Tim's might drastically reduce its partnership with curling in the future.

As well, a new CEO might well have to deal with the continuing headache of complaints over Brier and Scotties formats, unless Stremlaw's regime relents under what is expected to be a fairly large push from some member associations this summer.

The bottom line?

Greg Stremlaw absolutely ruffled some feathers over his seven years with Curling Canada. Probably outright plucked a bunch of 'em, too. Not every step was the right one, but there is little doubt that the organization he leaves is one that is much more efficient and disciplined in its approach. Richer, too.

It will be up to the next CEO to steer what is now a more seaworthy craft towards the desired destinations.