‘One rock ... and you’re hooked’: a family tradition

If you play chess, chances are good you may like curling.

“Curling is like chess on ice,” said Chuck Owens, a Stamford retiree who curled for 50 years.

For much of that time, Owens and his wife, Joanna, both in their late 80s, have been members of the Bridgeport-based Nutmeg Curling Club, one of only three clubs in Connecticut dedicated to the niche sport.

If you have been hearing about curling in the past week, it’s probably because of the sport’s popularity at the 2018 Winter Olympics. It is the only sport out of the 15 in the Winter Games with a contest each day, though it is far less popular in the U.S. than skiing and figure skating.

Owens cites chess because of the strategy involved, but a closer description may be “bocce on ice” after the Italian sport. The object of curling is to slide 42-pound granite curling stones into the scoring area. To do so, players are allowed to bump opponents’ stones out of the way. The team with the most curling stones in the scoring area at the end of the match wins.

While one player slides — or curls — a stone down a 146-foot-long sheet of ice, teammates use brooms to sweep the ice to control the stone’s speed and direction.

First practiced in the 16th century on the frozen lochs of Scotland, curling is typically played in men’s and women’s teams, although this year the Olympics introduced a mixeddoubles competition.

Chuck and Joanna Owens have yet to miss any of the televised Olympics curling — which they credit with a surge in numbers at Nutmeg Curling Club every four years.

“The Olympics have been very good to our curling stateside because people have seen it for the first time,” Chuck said. “Usually, you’ll mention curling and they’ll say, ‘What’s that?’ Now people say, ‘Oh, I saw it on TV.’ ”

Throwdown

The home of the Nutmeg Curling Club, started in 1960, is the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, and has about 140 members who play in nine leagues. For anyone whose interest is piqued after the Olympics, the club is hosting several beginners curling workshops later this month and in March.

“For some people, all it takes is one rock thrown down the ice and you’re hooked,” Nutmeg President Craig Doucette said. “For others, participating in a game is what really hooks them.”

At least one Stamford resident has a front-row seat for the Olympic curling competition. Jennifer Stannard, a Nutmeg member for the past 26 years, is one of four U.S. delegates to the World Curling Federation, which sets the rules of the sport and promotes it internationally.

“We are in a golden age when it comes to curling,” Stannard said, before leaving for Pyeongchang. “It’s really cool to see.”

Family tradition

The Owens family started their curling tradition in 1963 when they were new to Wisconsin — the state with the highest concentration of curlers, according to the United States Curling Association. About 20,000 curlers nationwide are registered with the group.

“We were buying furniture and the man there said, ‘Would you like to curl?’ and we didn’t even know what he was talking about,” Chuck said. “We thought sure, we needed something to do in a new town.”

They joined Nutmeg Curling in 1967 and competed in its club leagues. Until retiring their stone a few years ago, Chuck and Joanna curled across the country and in Canada. They even toured Scotland, where curling’s long-standing tradition of winners buying losers the first round of drinks after the game originated. For this reason, Nutmeg has a full bar on site.

“It’s a great winter sport,” Joanna said. “By the time it’s over with at the end of March, you’re ready for spring. It fills up the winter months.”

Both curlers — and their two adult children, who began playing as kids — most enjoy the social aspect of the game. But it also requires skill, finesse and athleticism. Each fourperson team has a captain, or “skip,” who determines strategy.

“Even though the stone is 42 pounds, it’s not a muscle game,” Chuck said. “The main exercise you get out of it is the sweeping — that’s very strenuous.”

The Owens family tried competing once as a team, “which didn’t work too well,” Chuck said.

“I have to admit, (Joanna) was a better curler than I was,” he said.

For information, visit nutmegcurling.com.

Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Some pins collected by curling enthusiasts Joanna and Chuck Owens, of Stamford, from various curling clubs are photograph on Friday. The couple, who have retired, curled for 50 years at the Nutmeg Curling Club in Bridgeport.

Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Curling enthusiasts Joanna and Chuck Owens are photograph on Friday at their home in Stamford. Both were curlers for 50 years at The Nutmeg Curling Club in Bridgeport.

Aaron Favila / Associated Press U.S. skip Nina Roth prepares to throw the stone during their women’s curling match against Japan at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, on Wednesday.