|
Sweeping the nation
|
|
|
By Ylva Van Burren
ROCK ON
Much of the credit for all the interest today in curling, has to go to McCusker's former foursome Team Schmirler, which brought home a gold medal in 1998, the first year curling was included at the Olympic Games. Sadly, skip Sandra Schmirler died from cancer two years after those games at the age of 36. In 2001, the team regrouped and Team Betker (comprised of skip Jan Betker, lead Marcia Gudereit, second McCusker and third Sherry Linton) competed in Halifax this past December to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics in Italy in February, ultimately losing to Team Kleibrink. The team also illustrates another important lesson: there's no restriction around age and in fact, "we've found curlers hit their prime in their 30s," says McCusker. McCusker and Gudereit turned 40 in 2005, Betker is 45 and Linton is 30. "Like many other athletic pursuits, if you work hard and stay fit and healthy, there’s no reason why you can’t continue to compete.
Curling offers a good workout, social interaction and a life sport for Canadians young and old. Joan McCusker and her husband, Brian, love to curl, but for Joan, who was on the team that brought home an Olympic gold medal in 1998, and Brian, a several-time provincial curling champ, sometimes it's just a game at the local rink in Regina with their kids. "What happens in our house between competitions," says McCusker, "is, I'll say 'I need to practise, I've gotta go throw rocks... who wants to come?'" One or more of the couple's children (Rory, 15, Christina, 11, and Shae, 7), will go and everyone will have a short game. "And it's fun, it's really fun!" says McCusker.
That's the beauty of curling, the all-Canadian game that has been literally sweeping across the country for the last several years. Once played mostly in rural communities in the prairies, the rest of the country has finally caught on and the game is now being played by all ages and levels everywhere. There are about 1,400 curling rinks and clubs in Canada, and almost half a million Canadians curl once a week.
How to play
The winter sport is similar to lawn bowling or bocce but played on ice. Four players on each team take turns throwing polished, heavy (42-pound) "rocks" down the ice towards a target, called the house. Two team members sweep the ice ahead of the rock with brushes or brooms, reducing the friction between the stone and the ice surface and allowing the stone to maintain its momentum longer. The objective is to get stones closest to the centre of the target. (The game gets technical from there in throwing and spinning technique. "But you decide what level you're comfortable at, and whether you want to get better, be competitive or stay recreational," says McCusker.) Each game has eight sections, called ends, and can last up to two-and-a-half hours.
"Curling is a challenging game and great exercise, and we're convinced that once you throw your first rock, which will happen pretty much in the first 10 minutes of a lesson, you'll be hooked," says Danny Lamoureux, manager of curling club development at the Canadian Curling Association in Ottawa. The game is accessible to people of any ability or shape, and most clubs are happy to introduce the game to beginners. For the club nearest you, do an Internet search or check your Yellow Pages.
Players should warm up (march on the spot, for example) before a game to increase heart rate and get blood to muscles, and then stretch a bit to avoid injury. "Then, be open-minded about learning to sweep a brush and slide up and down the ice," says McCusker. Just remember that if you overdo it right away, you'll be winded and feel muscles you did not know you had, warns McCusker. (Elite players work hard to strengthen their upper body, core and quad muscles in the legs as well as flexibility.)
Then, it's onto the fun. Mixed curling is popular, and curling clubs have lounge areas so there's often social time after a game. There are different curling interest groups too, says Lamoureux, including wheelchair curling and curling leagues for people who are deaf or blind. Most curling clubs have "little rock" programs for children up to age 11 (they literally use smaller rocks). He estimates that about 50,000 Canadians under 20 play the game. There are also special senior curling programs, and for those people who can't get down into a throwing position, a special delivery stick (similar to a long pool cue) helps to deliver rocks.
What you need
The average annual club cost is $50 for kids and $200 for adults (a club in a larger centre such as Ottawa can cost up to $365). You need a broom for sweeping and a sliding device that slips over your shoe for when you throw the stone. Brooms range in price from about $35 to $235 (for competition brooms). A sliding device is about $20. Curling shoes (one shoe has a special sole for sliding while the other shoe is a gripper foot) can range in price from about $50 to $200. Dressing in layers (the closest layer to your body should wick away sweat) is recommended so you can remove layers as you warm up. Wear gloves that provide grip and keep fingers warm.
Curling is a small team sport and teaches skills that you carry through your whole life, says McCusker, a CBC commentator and former teacher, who grew up on a farm around Yorkton, Sask. Everyone in her family curls. She remembers as a child that the school bus would empty on Tuesdays at the curling rink. "It was something you could do socially with your friends but also on a competitive level."
|
|
|
|
