Courtesy of Hank Ebert
Outside of our neighbors to the North, the word curling probably brings to mind hair or maybe even weight-lifting. Even those Roanokers who know of the sport likely have a casual relationship with it from the Winter Olympics or perhaps the comedically botched assassination attempt on Ringo Starr in the Beatles' film Help!
And chances are, you wonder what those brooms are for.
North of the border in Canada and in some of the colder U.S. States, it's a lot bigger than that. And since 2018, a group of Roanoke curling enthusiasts have been trying to bring the oft-misunderstood sport to the public.
Courtesy of Hank Ebert
It was the Winter Olympics that year that opened the door to the Roanoke Curling Club, and it's been growing ever since. Club members play on the ice at Berglund Center on Sunday nights for as long as the hockey season lasts. It gives its members an extra incentive to route for the Rail Yard Dawgs since making their playoffs last year led to a few additional months of their own preferred recreation.
Courtesy of Hank Ebert
The primary goal of curling is to get the "stone" into the goal, the 12-foot area known as the house. The closer you get to the center, or “button,” the better. Each team has four members, with two pitches each for a total of eight. But like shuffleboard, the only thing that counts for the score is where the stones are at the end, and you're allowed to knock the opposing team's stones aside or get your own closer to the button. There are eight ends (think innings).
It takes a little time to learn the techniques and get the strategy. It's a mix of athletic precision and tactics. Curling is often referred to as Chess on Ice.
Hank Ebert, a Curling Club Board Member, began last year.
When he came to their Learn to Curl Event for the first time, there were still mask mandates. He remembers his glass fogging up and deciding between using fogged-up spectacles or going without them.
But even with his obscured vision, his first two stone deliveries went into the house. "I was hooked," he says.
Ebert says it's a good sport for beginners. Club members are very friendly to newcomers and divide up teams according to varied skills, with either a mix of novices and experts playing on one team or a team of all one skill level playing against another at the same.
Unlike other ice-based sports, no skating is required. With curling, more advanced participants wear two different types of shoes: the gripper, which Ebert describes as being like "a heavy-duty snow tire," and the slider. For beginners, athletic shoes work fine.
Courtesy of Hank Ebert
The first thing the Curling Club teaches you is navigating your pitch understanding how to slide and anchor yourself with those shoes when you pitch your stone. It's 42 pounds, so some people use a delivery stick instead.
For anyone wanting to jump right in, Ebert recommends checking out some videos online and brushing up on your curling terminology.
The Roanoke Curling Club will hold at least two Learn to Curl events this year, the first on October 8 and the second on December 17, both on the ice at Berglund Center.
And by the way, your teammates use the curling brooms to keep the stone going straighter and further on the ice.
Register in advance for Learn to Curl through the RVCC website at curlroanoke.com.