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By Earl Scott
The Cache Valley Curling Club was founded the spring after the 2002 Winter Olympics and has been growing ever since. "There was a lot of excitement about curling after the Olympics," said Doug Jackson-Smith, one of the founders of the Club. "People volunteered to help with the Olympics, and after they were exposed to the sport they brought their enthusiasm back with them." The sport is played on an ice surface 146 feet long and 14 feet wide. There is a bullseye at each end of the playing surface, called the house. Inside the house is a smaller circle called the button. Each team has eight 40-pound stones they try and get inside of the house. The team that has the most stones closest to the button gets a point for each. The most recognized part of the sport is the sweepers. During the game each member of a four-person team will have a turn as a sweeper. By sweeping the ice an extra 6-10 feet can be added onto the slide of the stone, Jackson-Smith said. "Sweeping is important, if the stone is going too slow the sweepers remove the friction from the ice to help keep it going," Jackson-Smith said. "The opposing team can also sweep the house so your stone will slide through, taking away points from your team." The stone cannot be steered by sweeping, but the person delivering it can cause the stone to rotate while it's sliding, then it can curl towards the house, hence the name curling. Along with delivering the stone and sweeping, the other member of the team is the Skip. That person tells the sweepers when to sweep, and tells the person delivering the stone how to rotate it and where to try and place the stone in the house. The Skip is like the director of the game, Jackson-Smith said. This is a sport that people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy, Jackson-Smith said. A person can curl when they are 80. Charlie Miller from Wisconsin has been curling for about three months. He played all the typical sports in high school and still follows the Badger football team, but curling has found a place in his life. "It's fun, it's unique; there's not many places in the country you get to do this," he said. "I knew about this coming from the north, but I didn't get the opportunity to do this in Wisconsin; it really is a lot of fun." The etiquette of curling is somewhat different from traditional sports. There's not any trash-talking or screaming; it's about smiles, handshakes and strategy. The club currently has about 50 members of varying ages and lifestyles. There are students from elementary school, high school, and Utah State University, as well as middle-aged working people. Curling is not a male-only domain; women enjoy the sport as much as their male counterparts. Co Brunner has been with the club for a year. Her sisters told her how much they were enjoying the sport back in Minnesota and she felt like she was missing out on something. She decided to give it a try and is happy she did. "It's fun; it's spontaneous and you never know what's going to happen," she said. "It's something different. I found I didn't need a lot of background or expertise -- half the fun is learning from your mistakes." The club also has a very social atmosphere to it, Brunner said. Curling has something to offer everyone young and old. The tournaments for the season are over, but the club members will practice throughout the winter to prepare for the first competition in the spring. They meet every Monday from 6-8 pm at the Eccles Ice Center. For information about the Curling Club visit www.ecclesice.com.
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