Carla Casper

{{Short description|American curler (1945–2023)}}

{{for|the German general|Carl Casper}}

{{Infobox curler

| name = Carla Casper

| other_names =

| birth_date = November 10, 1945

| birth_place = Wild Rose, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|2|20|1945|11|10}}

| death_place=Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.

| Curling club =

| Skip =

| Third =

| Second =

| Lead =

| Alternate =

| World Championship appearances =

| Olympic appearances = 1 (1988)

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Women's curling }}

{{MedalCountry | {{flag|Wisconsin}} }}

{{MedalCompetition | United States Olympic Curling Trials }}

{{MedalGold | 1987 St Paul | }}

}}

Carla Casper (November 10, 1945 – February 20, 2023) was an American curler and Olympian. At the time of the 1988 Olympics, she was living in Green Bay, Wisconsin.{{cite news|title=A team of 'competitors'|date=January 23, 1988|page=18|newspaper=The Capital Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50556572/the-capital-times/|accessdate=May 9, 2020}}{{cite news|title=Curlers get moment in spotlight|date=February 14, 1988|page=8 |newspaper=Wisconsin State Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50556834/wisconsin-state-journal/|accessdate=May 9, 2020}}

In 1987 Lisa Schoeneberg invited Casper to join her team just two weeks before the tournament to determine Wisconsin's representative to the United States' first Olympic Curling Trials, replacing a teammate with a burst appendix. Casper joined as the team's second, with Lori Mountford at lead, Erika Brown at third, and Schoeneberg as skip.{{Cite web|url=http://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/104|title=XV. Olympic Winter Games 1988: Tournament details|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=May 8, 2020}} Brown's father, World bronze medalist Steve Brown, was the team's coach{{Cite web|title=CURLING TEAM HAS CHEESE FLAVOR|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-16-8703260784-story.html|last=Hersh|first=Phil|date=November 16, 1987|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=May 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511171307/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-16-8703260784-story.html |archive-date=2020-05-11 }}{{Cite web|title=WINTER OLYMPICS : Curling, New Olympic Game, Enough to Curl Your Curiosity|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-13-sp-10903-story.html|last=Downey|first=Mike|date=February 13, 1988|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509011505/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-13-sp-10903-story.html |archive-date=2020-05-09 }} and her mother, Diane, was the team's alternate player.{{Cite web|title=Curling's Erika Brown eyes return to Olympics, 26 years after her debut|url=https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2013/11/08/erika-brown-curling-sochi-olympics-1988-calgary/|last=Zaccardi|first=Nick|date=November 8, 2013|website=NBC Sports|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909184440/http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2013/11/08/erika-brown-curling-sochi-olympics-1988-calgary/ |archive-date=2015-09-09 }} The team won the tournament, earning a spot at the Olympic Trials in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They upset the top two teams from that year's national championship to win the Trials and earn their spot as the American women's team at the 1988 Olympics.{{Cite magazine|title=No Stone Unturned|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1988/01/27/curling-no-stone-unturned-the-us-hopes-to-rock-the-world-in-the-hotly-contested-demonstration-sport-of-dont-laugh-curling|last=Vader|first=J. E.|date=January 27, 1988|magazine=Sports Illustrated|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509011245/https://vault.si.com/vault/1988/01/27/curling-no-stone-unturned-the-us-hopes-to-rock-the-world-in-the-hotly-contested-demonstration-sport-of-dont-laugh-curling |archive-date=2020-05-09 |access-date=May 8, 2020}} At the Olympic Games, where curling was a demonstration event, they finished fifth out of eight teams, with a 4–4 record.

As skip of her own team Casper won the Wisconsin State Championship four years in a row, 1987–1990.{{cite web |title=State Champions – Women's |url=http://www.wi-curling.org/curling/champions/Women%27s?page=2 |website=Wisconsin State Curling Association |accessdate=May 8, 2020}}

Casper was named President of the United States Women's Curling Association, an organization with the purpose of promoting the sport of curling among women and youth, for 2000–2001.{{cite news|title=Casper named president of curling group|date=October 20, 2000|page=D-2|newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50557170/green-bay-press-gazette/|accessdate=May 9, 2020}}