Hittin’ The Town: Curling sweeping the nation
The Bowling Green Curling Club is the perfect place to learn more about the Olympic sport.
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - The story of the sport of curling usually starts sweeping the nation every four years during the Winter Olympics. However, it’s popular with some people in our neck of the woods every day of the year.
Curling dates back hundreds of years. It originated in Scotland and is a game for men, women, children, and entire families. It’s often described as a game of chess on ever-changing ice.
“Curling is a 16th-century game developed by the Scots,” says Ed Glowacki, who has been curling for 37 years. “When they couldn’t golf anymore, they invented another devious game.”
“It’s a very mental game,” adds his wife Mary. She has also been curling for more than three decades. “It’s a fun game, but you always have to think about strategy and what the other team is doing.”
Two teams, each with four people, compete against one another. Ed says the goal of the game is simple. “It’s a finesse game, you don’t necessarily need to be muscle-bound. You just need to move the rock down the ice.”
But making that happen is not an easy task. “There are eight red rocks and eight yellow rocks that are thrown to the opposite end of the ice. The goal is for them to end up in the archery ring or the house. The closest to the center, or the button, is the color that scores until it is out counted by another color,” says Ed.
The season at the BG Curling Center runs from October through April. “We have people curling as young as 8 and well into their 80s.”
There are leagues here five days a week, and there are also opportunities for the community to come in and learn how to curl. “This is our passion, and we love to share it with other people.”
There are learn to curl sessions throughout the season, and Ed says the club actually shuts down the leagues during the Olympics to provide those classes. “You’ll get some technical classwork, and then get on the ice and play a short game. It’s a very special game, and we want to share it with everyone we can.”
On a side note, the games take about two hours to play. If you’re interested in learning more, click here.
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