CURLING TRAINING Let’s face it – many of us didn’t even know what curling was and probably didn’t realize it was an Olympic sport till this past year when the U.S. Curling Team won their first gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The excitement for the sport has since been building and everyone is jumping on the band wagon to try out the activity that looks so simple when sitting on our couches, watching it on T.V. After all, how hard can it be to launch a stone and sweep some ice with a broom?
Windy City Curling runs leagues, Learn-to-Curls, private and groups events through the season out of Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge. After a quick session on the rules of the game, we made teams and headed to the ice. Our group was surprised the ice wasn’t slippery. We could play using our own gym shoes due to a system called pebbling, which gives the ice texture.
Who knew how hard it was to simply throw the stone? We giggled as each one of us got in position and pushed as hard as we could, only to either fall over ourselves or watch our stone not go too far. We laughed at how bad we were right off the bat!
Who knew sweeping ice while strategically moving forward in front of a delivered stone was actually complicated? Boy did we make fools of ourselves as we shuffled our way to the center of the house, also known as the “button”. We had so much fun trying to improve our deliveries and getting our red colored stone more on point than our opponent’s blue colored stone. Although sweeping ice appears simple, the strategy of helping the stone go straighter and farther was quite complicated when actually in motion!
I can honestly say curling was far more fun that I could have ever imagined. We shared a lot of laughs during our lesson!
OVERVIEW
Learn to Curls are events that are held throughout the year that allow anyone who is not a member of the club to try curling. No experience necessary. Everything needed to get you on the path to becoming an Olympic class curler is provided.
Windy City Curling Club 6690 IL-53, Woodridge, IL 60517 (630) 791-0138 www.windycity.curling.club/
Hours: Available September through April. Other events outside of season based on availability.
Price $: Prices vary based on selection
ABOUT THE WRITER Naperville mom Kristen Kucharski graduated from Illinois State University in 1992 with an International Business Degree. She is married and has two energetic daughters and her house is always full of children. Kristen’s column titled, Mom's Little Black Book, is a monthly feature written for moms who are looking for ways to keep their kids busy.
