Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
N for curling HERE I GO
Rules of this tricky ancient game
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After falling on my bum several times, things slowly improve... I manage to get the stone a pathetic few metres down the sheet.
Next I am taught sweeping, which is like a full-on workout and so exhausting it is impossible to finish the full length of the ice. But it’s crucial.
In the next lane, I hear a chorus of women yelling aggressively, “Hurry Hard! Hurry Hard! Yep! Yep!”, as two of them furiously sweep the ice as the stone approaches the house.
Evie Chamberlain, marketing and sport development manager at the club, explains: “‘Hurry Hard’ means keep sweeping. Sweeping is critical and works by warming the ice and reducing the friction. It can alter the path of the stone and help direct it into the house.”
After hearing these women furiously yelling at one another, they were later found – competitors from both sides – nattering in the cafe.
For them, curling is all about the socialising. Mary Robertson, 70, tells me: “We play for the Peebles Ladies Curling Club. Some of us have been playing for 30 years. I started when my husband died. I’ve made so many friends. It’s brilliant.”
Hazel Cormac, 72, says: “I’ve been playing for 30 years. We have what’s called a Bon Spiel, a get together of lots of different clubs. It literally means ‘good game’.”
Tea break over, it’s back to the lesson. On attempt number 12, my stone heads for the edge because I misjudge my angle, but great sweeping by Frazer, means it lands in the target.
After an hour I’ve gone from wobbling all over the place, to being able to curl my stone to the far end of the sheet. I am exhausted.
My knees hurt, my bum is sore from falling on it but I’ve had a great work out and a lot of fun.
At the end of the session my coaches give me a review.
“You started off a little timid,”
Evie says. She adds: “A little wobbly, but once you got comfortable you showed potential. You started to focus on balance and aim. We need to focus on your handle and your aim. Just don’t overthink it.”
Frazer’s verdict is a little harsher and means I need lots of gym sessions. “Once you got a feel for the idea and processed it in your mind doing several things at once, like putting together a jigsaw, it came together,” he says.
“You got a feel for sliding out. But fitness is huge – you’ve got to have strength in your core. You went up and down twice and were knackered, so if you pursue it you need to get fit.”
The few ice rinks in the UK that do curling have been inundated with new-starters and Frazer and Evie believe the sport is only going to get bigger.
Evie says: “I think curling, because it is such a sociable sport, is going to gradually become more popular. We’re seeing more and more people here.”
If you want to try, a few rinks across England and Wales accommodate beginners but
Scotland has the most.
Have a look at www. trycurling.com for your closest rink.
CURLING CLUB MANAGER
TEAMS of two or four slide stones towards a target area called a house. They have eight stones each and slide in turn. Stones resting within the house score. The curler may turn the stone as it slides, causing it to take a curved path.
Two players, called sweepers, use brooms to sweep the ice, changing the course of the stone. The captain’s job is to set strategy and hold the broom in the target area to indicate where their team-mate should aim. When each side has thrown its stones, the team with the stone closest to the centre wins that “end”.
The winning team gets a point for each stone lying closer to the centre of the house than the opponent’s closest stone. Only stones in the 12ft house zone score.