Guest feature by Lisa DruryI hope many of you were able to watch the always-exciting Winter Olympics held recently in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
My family and I watched the games daily, keeping track of the exhilarating downhill skiing with USA’s Lindsay Vonn, and Julia Mancuso. We never missed a race with the lightening speed and the laid-back demeanor of speed skating superstar, Apolo Anton Ohno. Of course, I cannot go on without a mention of our very own Illinoisans, women’s speed skater, Katherine Reutters of down-state Champaign and men’s figure skater, Evan Lysacek of Naperville. Way to go, Katherine and Evan!! Both of these very talented athletes medaled in their prospective sports and made our country proud! What an accomplishment!
We are a family of winter sports, as my husband plays hockey, a sport he has played for 30+ years. At 47, he comes home moaning and groaning of those sore, achy muscles, mumbling that he may be getting to old for this! My 8-year-old son was bitten by the hockey bug a couple of years ago and is a goalie for a local youth hockey team.
Speed skating is particularly close to my heart, as I speed skated competitively in my younger days.
For several years, beginning early in my teens, I competed in races around in the Midwest region. My coach, a gentleman from Germany, taught me a great deal about the sport. Still vivid in my mind is a bad spill I took in the Mayor Daley Silver Skates Derby in 1976, fracturing my wrist. But, with great determination, suffering through the pain, I caught a glimpse of my ever-so-supportive mother in the crowd shaking her fist at me while yelling at me to get up; with all the energy I could muster, I made it back to my skates and finished in third place.
I hung up my speed skates many years ago and recently took up the game of curling.
Curling is an ancient sport and remains a big mystery to many people. Let’s talk about some curling basics, and perhaps this will help take the mystery out of the game.
The “stone,” or “rock” as it is commonly referred to, is made of granite, weighing between 38 and 44 pounds, with a handle attached to the top. The handle allows the stone to be gripped and rotated upon release; on properly prepared ice, the stone's path will bend (curl) in the direction the front edge of the stone is turning, especially as the stone slows. The only part of the stone in contact with the ice is the running surface, a narrow, flat, ring on the bottom of the stone. The sides of the stone bulge convex down to the ring, and the inside of the ring is hollowed concave to clear the ice.
The “sheet” (the ice surface) has to be created in specific conditions in order to obtain the correct playing surface. The surface must start off with a level field and then have water droplets sprayed on it so that it creates a “pebbled” surfaced. This surface helps to create the curl (or spin) of the stone after it is released.
A game of curling consists of ten “ends,” which are similar to sets in tennis or innings in baseball. In each end, each team member throws two stones. If there is a tie after the ten ends, game play continues until the tie is broken.
In curling, teams slide the stone over the sheet which has a pattern near the end of it that looks very similar to a target with a bull’s eye. The entire target area is called the “house” with the bull’s eye portion called “the button.” The goal is to place your team’s stones closest to the “button.”
To assist the stone in reaching its mark, teammates sweep the ice with special brooms to guide the stone. The friction from the sweeping creates thin water tracks that the stone can follow.
The game requires a lot of skill, strategy, and finesse. Because of this it is often called “chess on ice.” The “skip” (essentially a team captain) decides where they want each stone to be placed to ensure that their team’s stones end up closest to “the button.” Once they strategize they’ll stand near the target and place the broom at the point of the field that they want the person sliding the stone to aim for.
The slider will begin at the “hack” (a starting block, much like those used in track and field events, located at the back edge of the sheet). The slider will draw the stone back, sometimes lifting the stone off the ice and sometimes not, and they push off from the hack to propel themselves forward with the stone. The slider must release the stone before he or she crosses the first line, known as the “hog line.” The “skip” then directs the other two teammates how to use their brooms to guide the stone. Sweeping allows the stone to travel farther, but not necessarily faster.
As you can tell, there is specialized equipment that is specific to curling. You need a curling stone, brooms and a special kind of shoes. Professionals, or the more serious curler, will wear shoes to allow for sliding, as well as for traction when needed. A “slider” made of Teflon is worn on one foot, while a “gripper” is worn on the other foot for traction. Also available are “step-on” sliders and pull-on grippers that are used by most novice curlers.
Interested in trying it out? It’s certainly a challenging game, and it’s also a great way to make new friends, share some laughs with other novice curlers and — believe it or not — get some great exercise.
If you are local to the Kankakee area, you might be surprised to know that there ARE curling opportunities nearby. Contact Debbie Buchanon at the OAK Sports Arena on River Road, at 815-939-1946 for further information. Spring League will soon get underway and Fall leagues and a Learn to Curl Program is also available. Curling equipment is available for FREE at the OAK Sports Arena, if you’d like to try it out!
Lisa Drury is the assistant to Dr. Sue Rattin, director of assessment & learning support services. She has been curling for two years and is a former competitive speed skater. Lisa and husband, Jeff, live in Bourbonnais with their two children, ages 10 and 8, while Lisa’s oldest son is a junior at Florida State University majoring in sports management.
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