Shore siblings back home in New Jersey to compete at USA Curling national championships

EAST RUTHERFORD — When Tom Howell and his wife, Hanna, landed at Newark Airport on Friday night ahead of USA Curling's national championships, the first thing they did was get some authentic Jersey pizza. Howell wasn't shy about admitting he'd had three pork roll, egg and cheese sandwiches by Monday morning.

His younger sister, Allison Howell, looked astounded – and not only because she works as a nutritionist. Allison hadn't even managed one bagel by that point.

As practice for nationals continued over their shoulders, the siblings ran through a list of all the foods they wanted during this trip: bagels, deli, Italian food, seafood. And, of course, pork roll.

Said Allison Howell, "I don't care. I'm going to eat it. It makes me happy."

The Howells grew up in Brick, but this was their first trip back to New Jersey in years. It is also the first time the curling nationals are in the tri-state area, hosted at The Rink at American Dream in East Rutherford.

Tom Howell is competing with Team Dropkin, the No. 1 ranked American team heading into nationals. Allison Howell is part of Team Cousins, an up-and-coming squad.

The winning men's and women's teams advance to the 2024 World Championships, and begin the process of qualifying for the Olympic Trials.

Teams are slated for at least one session per day – and usually will play twice – with the semifinals on Saturday night, and the women's and men's finals set for Sunday.

"Our goal is to win. We would see not winning as a disappointment," said Tom Howell, a Milwaukee-based financial advisor for The Generations Group at Morgan Stanley.

"We’ve competed on this stage for several years. ... What we’ve done this whole season, since July, is for this week. It’s been a buildup, and we’re hoping this week is the time we peak and get it done."

Curling community in New Jersey

Tom and Allison's parents, Bob and Rachel Howell, were involved in a curling league in the Boston suburbs before having kids and relocating to New Jersey. Tom took his first slide down the ice in a car seat, while Rachel Howell was out there curling while pregnant with Allison.

Here's how curling works: Players take turns sliding stones toward a bull's-eye, known as the house. Teammates who aren't throwing the rocks are either calling out directions at the other end of the ice or sweeping in front as it slides along. They sweep to reduce friction between ice and stone, which allows it to go farther and straighter. A team scores one point for every rock that it has closer to the center of the house (target) than the other team.

More: National curling championships come to American Dream. Here's everything you need to know

The siblings grew up at Plainfield Curling Club in South Plainfield, often hearing, "Good luck. We'll be watching from afar," before traveling to tournaments according to Tom Howell. Thanks to having nationals nearby, they have both reconnected with many people they knew as kids.

They even stopped off at the Plainfield Curling Club last Saturday. Some of those longtime supporters have turned up at nationals.

Said Tom Howell, "This is the first time in my almost 30 years playing the sport that I can see those faces in the crowd watching us."

Tom Howell was at Marquette University, and Allison Howell just finishing her freshman year at St. Rose High School in Belmar, when the family moved to the suburbs of Cleveland. Allison went on to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, not far from her brother.

After graduating with a degree in nutritional science in the spring of 2022, Allison Howell spent last year as a nutritionist with the Boston Red Sox. Her curling uniform bore a Red Sox "Beard Nation" logo on the right sleeve.

"It’s a cool experience to be able to reach back out to people," said Allison Howell, who will start a new job at a clinic in Boston on Monday. "You basically grew up in a curling club. Being so close to that, having those people still support you to this day, it’s just amazing. It’s a way to give back for what they’ve done for us. The endless support, we can’t thank them enough."

Always finding balance

Baseball season is the opposite of curling, so Allison Howell hasn't had much of a break since college. She was always at Fenway Park early and stayed long after games ended, just like she was on the team.

Tom Howell said he's lucky to have a boss who supports his Olympic dream, even without knowing much about curling. Tom Howell estimated he spent about 90 days out of the office last year, well more than the average American vacation schedule.

Tom Howell has navigated time zones to schedule client calls, and spent plenty of time working in hotel rooms before or after games. Family vacations are at curling tournaments, and he's usually at work in the summer when most of his colleagues are away.

The struggle is real, but it's not new.

Besides curling, the Howells grew up playing other sports: baseball for Tom and soccer for Allison.

Tom Howell said originally, curling "was all about fun, and so innocent, like Little League." But his focus began to shift during the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Curling was on television, and the United States men's team – including John Shuster, now the skip of his own team at nationals – won the bronze medal. His friends outside the curling club started to notice the sport.

An injury during his junior year at St. Rose High School ended Tom Howell's baseball career. His dream of playing college baseball ended, but the possibility of curling at the Olympics "kicked into overdrive." He participated in the junior World Championships three times, in 2012, 2013 and 2016. His teams have finished second at the Olympic Trials in 2017 – when Team Shuster went on to win the gold medal in Pyeongchang – and 2021, after winning nationals.

"He's the glue of our team, energy guy," said Andrew Stopera, who played with Tom in 2015, and again for the past two years with Team Dropkin. "He gets along with everybody. He's so steady in the position he plays. It's great having him as my teammate."

Five years younger than her brother, Allison Howell pinpointed 2014 when "it seemed natural to go curling" instead of playing soccer. Her teams won three golds (2017, 2018, 2019), two silvers and a bronze at junior nationals, and competed at junior worlds three times. She also tied for fourth at the 2022 Olympic Trials.

"We're not so results focused because it's the middle of the quad. We don't want to peak right now." she said. "I'm excited to see people I haven't seen in a while ... just to have them spontaneously come and watch."

And maybe bring pork roll sandwiches.

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ curling: Tom, Allison Howell home for US Curling championships