Those stones will be on display at the second ever Curling Day in Minnesota on Sunday January 26th.
Fogerty Arena is one of the venues across the state where events will take place as the Four Seasons Curling Club is hosting a free open house.
“Last year Minnesota had a Curling Day in Minnesota event and the St. Paul Curling Club was featured and we thought let’s bring this event to Four Seasons this winter,” said Troy Pullis from the Four Seasons Curling Club. “It’s been in the planning for a few weeks now and we’re happy to have a drop-in session where anyone in the community can come out, get on the ice and try curling. Try throwing a stone. Learn how to sweep. Learn what scoring is all about and see what this growing sport is all about.”
“You can come out to the open house, you can give it a try,” said Sean Brown who is also with Four Seasons. “Like so many others you’re going to enjoy watching the stones travel down the ice. Be able to make a shot. See some of the same shots you might see in the Olympics.”
Fabulous Fogerty arena
The Four Seasons Curling Club practices and plays at Fogerty Arena – which is viewed as a top-notch venue.
“Absolutely wonderful ice conditions,” Brown said. “We have such good ice-makers here that curling is so exciting. What we have – which a lot of the other older clubs across the state and the country don’t have – is we’ve got a whole wall of glass here with the restaurant behind. This is a fabulous, fabulous facility.”
Four Seasons is hoping that curling newbies will come to the open house and get hooked on the sport.
Said Brown: “Curling is a sport that is so easy to fall in love with.”
Brown has been curling for approximately 12 years.
“I’ve been a member of the St. Paul Curling Club, Frogtown Curling Club and of course here at Four Seasons Curling Club,” Brown said.
Camaraderie, etiquette and strategy
Brown likes the camaraderie, etiquette and strategy of curling.
“Curling is a very, very social sport,” Brown said. “Lots of back slapping and cheering on both your team and opponents.”
“We’re promoting this to get more people involved in this growing sport,” Pullis said. “Youth, young adults, college students. Everyone and anyone can come and try this sport. We’re gonna open the doors at 9:45 am and have open curling until about 12:30 pm.”
Curling is something that just about anyone can learn if they put in the practice time. Being an incredible athlete is not a prerequisite.
“You can be athletic but anyone, any ability can come out and try this,” Pullis said. “It takes some flexibility to get into that lunge position.”
“Don’t be afraid of the sport,” Brown said. “We have people of all ages and all abilities. You have to have enough body weight to move that 45 pound piece of granite down the ice.”
The folks at Four Seasons also want to make sure that people going to the open house learn the rules of the sport.
“Basically curling is a sport of four teammates curling against another team of four,” Pullis said. “You alternate throwing granite stones down the pebbled ice. You throw eight stones per team, so a total of 16 and you try to score in the circles, it’s called the house.”
“It’s a team sport,” Brown said. “You have a skip at the other end calling the strategy and you’re going to throw your stone and your teammates are going to sweep to influence the path of that stone to get it into a better position…Every end is a puzzle that is getting built. You’re putting your stones into position. Your opponent is putting their stones into position. With every new stone the puzzle changes.”
According to Pullis curling been played for hundreds of years and began in Scotland.
