ABCs of Curling
- Away end: The end of the sheet to which the first stone of a game is delivered.
- Back house weight: The speed given to a stone at delivery so that it will just reach the back of the house.
- Back line: A line at the back of the house, extending across the width of the sheet, which is parallel to and located 1.829 m. (6 ft.) from each tee line.
- Back of the house: The area within the house that lies between the tee line and the back line.
- Brush (Broom): A device used by players to sweep/clean the ice in front of a moving stone.
- Curl: The curved path of a stone as it travels down the sheet of ice.
- Delivering team: The team that is currently in control of the playing area, and scheduled to deliver the next stone.
- Delivering end: The end of the sheet from which the stones are being delivered.
- Delivery: The motion a player makes when playing a curling stone.
- End: A portion of a curling game that is completed when each team has thrown eight stones and/or the score has been decided.
- Hammer: A term used to describe the last stone delivered in that end.
- Handle: The part of a curling stone that a player grips in order to deliver.
- Home end: The end of the sheet from which the first stone of a game is delivered.
- House: The area within the concentric circles at each end of the sheet.
- Playing end: The end of the sheet to which the stones are being delivered.
- Point: At the completion of an end, one is awarded to a team for each of its own stones located in or touching the house that is closer to the tee than any stone of the opposition.
- Scoring: A team scores one point for each of its stones that is within the house and closer to the tee than any stone of the opposing team.
- Sheet: The specific ice surface upon which a curling game is played.
- Skip: The player who directs play for the team.
- Stone: Also known as a rock, a curling stone is made of granite and is delivered by the players in a curling game.
- Stone set in motion: A stationary stone hit by another stone, which causes it to move.
- Sweeping: The action of moving a broom or brush back and forth in front of the path of a moving stone to clean or polish the ice surface.
- Takeout: Removal of a stone from the playing area by hitting it with another stone.
- Weight: The amount of force/speed given to the stone during the delivery.
He started as an avid spectator – watching Olympic curling from the comfort of his home – but it wasn’t long before Bruce Clingan was hooked.
“A friend of mine, my wife and I were watching curling and I remember thinking ‘this is pretty cool, I wish I could try it,’” Clingan said.
The Troy resident found the Columbus Curling Club and the rest, as they say, is history. He signed up for the club’s instructional program and was soon traveling to Columbus several times a week to play.
It wasn’t long before Clingan and a small group of Troy residents decided to bring the sport closer to home and Curl Troy was born at Hobart Arena.
Clingan and the Curl Troy members will be sharing their love of the game at RiverScape as the region’s largest outdoor ice skating rink will play host to its first official curling league this winter. The five-week recreational curling league will run from Jan. 7-Feb. 4 with each team playing one game per week.
The league is beginner-friendly as the first week will be primarily educational, followed by four weeks of friendly competition.
“Regardless of physical ability, everybody can give curling a try,” Clingan said. “I am the least athletic person in the world and I can do it.”
Curling basics
The exact origins of the game are unclear, but curling is thought to be one of the world’s oldest team sports. In its early days, it was played on frozen lochs and ponds. What may have started as an enjoyable pastime of throwing stones over ice during harsh northern European winters, has evolved into a popular modern sport with its own World Championships attracting fans and large television audiences. Olympic athletes will soon be vying for curling gold in Sochi, Russia (www.olympic.org/curling).
The pastime is still enjoyed outdoors in some countries when weather permits, but most national and international competitive curling competitions now take place in indoor rinks with the condition of the ice temperature-controlled.
Curling is a game played on ice in which large, round, flat granite stones are slid across the surface toward a mark. Members of a team use brooms to sweep the surface of the ice in the path of the stone to control its speed and direction.
While the players aren’t racing around the rink on skates, they can get a workout.
“It’s not hard to get a bit winded, especially if you’re sweeping,” Clingan said. “It can be a lot of work.”
Curling beginners
“I’ve never had anyone who was not able to deliver,” Clingan said. “And I’ve never had a single person who tried it tell me they didn’t want to come back.”
And that’s saying something as he has seen players as young as 7 and as old as 85 on the ice. Delivery is the motion a player makes when playing a curling stone.
“And modifications can be made if a player is injured,” he said.
Equipment will be provided for the RiverScape league. Participants should wear athletic shoes on the ice and dress in layers. If you work up a sweat, you can easily remove a layer.
“It’s not the same ice condition as it is for skating,” Clingan said. “It’s not as slick, a lot easier to walk on.”
And with just over two months until the Winter Olympics get under way, you can be a pro before the first medal is even awarded.
For more information about the league or other local curling events visit www.curltroy.org or Curl Troy on Facebook.
Milestones in the History of Curling
From the World Curling Federation
- Paintings by 16th Century Flemish Artist Pieter Bruegel (1530-1569) portrayed an activity similar to curling being played on frozen ponds.
- The first written evidence appeared in Latin in 1540.
- The first Rules were drawn up in Scotland and were formally adopted as the "Rules in Curling" by the Grand Caledonian Curling Club, which was formed in Edinburgh in 1838 and became the sport's governing body.
- International curling events were staged in the 19th century in Europe and North America, but it was not until the first Olympic Winter Games at Chamonix in 1924 that any form of official international competition took place.
- In 1932 at Lake Placid, curling again was listed, but this time, as a demonstration sport at the Winter Olympics, and Canada was a winner over the United States in a two-country competition in which each country entered four men's teams.
- In 1959, Scotland and Canada reached a major milestone by launching the Scotch Cup series between their national men's curling champions.
- Interest in other countries was generated, and the USA (1961), Sweden (1962), Norway and Switzerland (1964), France (1966) and Germany (1967) expanded the Scotch Cup entry. The 1959-67 results now are recognized in the curling history of the men's world championship.
- Curling was a demonstration sport for a second and third time at the Olympic Winter Games of 1988 (Calgary) and 1992 (Albertville) for teams of men and women.
- In 1992, the International Olympic Committee granted official medal status to Men's and Women's Curling, to take effect no later than the Olympic Winter Games of 2002, with an option for 1998 at Nagano, Japan.
- The Organizing Committee of the Nagano Olympic Winter Games officially agreed to include curling in the program of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in 1998. Eight teams for men and women participated in Nagano, and this was increased to 10 from the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games of 2002 onward.
- The first World Wheelchair Curling Championship was held in January 2002.
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