Mike Graves started curling in his early 30s when he moved back near his hometown of Midland, Michigan to start a teaching career.  His father, Howard Graves, asked him to come out and try it and he was instantly hooked.  Fast forward a few years and after the Midland Curling Club moved to a new location which allowed it to grow and add many new curlers, Mike thought about introducing curling to the kids he was teaching.  Mike decided to try and build on the existing small junior program and launched an afterschool program aimed at the students he taught in middle school.  By recruiting out of his classroom, he was able to expand the program and start filling up the club with juniors who fell in love with the game.  A few of those kids started exploring the competitive side of junior curling and after a couple of years, athletes from a little club in Michigan no one ever heard of, started making noise at the national level.  Mike continues to coach, teach, and travel with junior teams as well as serve as the US Junior Curling Association Vice President and Education Coordinator in charge of curling camps.  His love of the game never diminishes and he is proud of the athletes that have come through his program to become true champions of curling and respected athletes at the local, state, national, and international levels.