Curling rocks: New sport slides onto the local scene

CONWAY — It's been quite a year for the Mount Washington Valley Curling Club. Actually in less than a year the club was formed; a competitive season was played in the fall; the sport even went global here in December when a dozen Australians asked to give it a throw; and Thursday WMUR's Chronicle came to Ham Ice Arena to highlight both the club and sport.

"We've accomplished a lot and hopefully there's even more good things ahead," Pat Kittle, president of MWV Curling Club, said Thursday at Ham Ice Arena during the taping for Chronicle.

Pete Ellis has been involved with the MWV Curling Club since its inception. He brings over 12 years of experience and love of the sport to the rink.

"It's an easy game to play," he said. "You can learn enough to start in about 40 minutes, but (laughing) it'll take you the next 10 years to get good at it."

The club will host its second Learn to Curl event Saturday, Jan. 20, at Ham Ice Arena on West Main Street in Conway Village from 6 to 8 p.m. There is no cost to come out and try the sport, which is open to all ages and abilities.

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice toward a target area. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy (weighing between 38 to 44 pounds), polished granite stones, also called "rocks," across the ice curling sheet toward the house, a circular target marked on the ice.

Each team has eight stones. The goal is to accumulate the highest score for a game, points being scored for the stones resting closest to the center of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game may consist of eight to 10 ends.

Ellis said he knew curling and the valley would be a perfect match.

"I think I'm pleased, but am I surprised? No, because I've seen it before," he said. "We thought that 40 people would be a reasonable size to end the first half year with and we've done well. We have the open house on Saturday and we'll see what comes from there. As I said earlier, it would be nice to get 12 teams of four, 60 people, that's not a big jump."

Eight teams participated in the fall league season that began in October and culminate in early December with matches most Saturday nights. The winter league will play every Saturday for eight weeks, beginning Feb. 4.

Kirk Saunders, of Conway, is in his first year of curling and admits he's hooked on the sport.

"I love it," he said. "It was one of those Olympic sports I saw on TV and I just couldn't stop watching it. My wife saw curling advertised in the paper and said you ought to try it so I did and I've had a blast!"

Bill Wilczek, another first-year curler, makes the 80-minute drive from Littleton to play in the league. "I love the challenge of trying to get better," he said. "There's a lot of strategy to the sport. When you throw a stone and it goes where you want it to go, that's the best feeling."

Ellis praised Wilczek and Saunders and a host of other first-year curlers.

"This group is going to be a real good group of curlers before they're done," he said. "I'm excited about the enthusiasm we see here every single week. The desire to learn and the desire to play is really good."

Ellis said following Learn to Curl this Saturday, the club plans to run another teaching event on Jan. 28 for people who have decided they want to be in the league.

"We want to get them out on the ice, we want to go further than we can go in the Learn to Curl or the open house," he said. "It's a training night. From there you should be able to jump in and play in a league.

"I would like to let people know that we're here on Saturday nights and we'd welcome the company," Ellis continued. "Come down and watch us play, it's open, there's no charge to sit and watch and there's usually spare people around to answer any questions. It can be a very interesting evening. Even if you don't want to play it can be fun to come and watch."

Paul Valle, of Conway and another first-year curler, said the sport appeals to him because it attracts all ages and abilities to the ice.

"Anybody of any age and ability can do it," he said. "Plus, I think it's kind of new in this country. A lot of people have seen it in the Olympics and I think that's the real key. They say, 'Geez it looks like fun and I want to try it.' It's something anyone can do."

Valle likes the strategy behind the sport.

"There's a lot more strategy than I realized," he said. "It's probably more strategy than anything else, it doesn't look it , but it is. Another name for it is chess on ice. I enjoy the social aspect of curling, but also really like the challenge — just trying to win and do a good job at it."

WMUR's Chronicle will air the segment of the club in about two weeks. Reporter Jennifer Crompton even took to the ice to try the sport first hand.

"She was a natural," Wilczek said.

Chronicle, which has been on Channel 9 for the past decade, airs weekdays at 7:30 p.m. and focuses on the people, places and trends that give the Granite State its unique character.

Cost for memberships to the MWV Curling Club varies. A full membership is $120 for people who want to curl weekly. A trial membership is $60, which entitles a player to curl the first half of the season to see if he or she like it. A third option is a social membership, which costs $75 and allows a player to take to the sheet two times a month. A $15 fee is charged each week for ice time.

Curling has taken off here in the community. A board of directors was created within two weeks and the MWV Curling Club was born by May 1.

The board of directors and members raised $10,000 with the help of a matching grant from the Gibson Woodbury Foundation all within three months, and acquired three sets of curling stones, a full complement of brooms and sliders, and hacks for the curling sheets — in short, everything needed to curl.  The club even permanently painted three curling sheets on the ice at the arena.

Over 100 people turned out in September for the initial Curl-A-Palooza in which members of the Nashua and Merrimack curling clubs put on a demonstration of the sport with the inaugural match played on the West Main Street ice sheet.

People in attendance applauded shots and were keen to learn more. Members of the Mount Washington Valley Curling Club were throughout the rink answering questions about everything from the costs of brushes (starting at around $70 on up to $200 for a carbon fiber brush) to the different types of footwear curlers wear (they actually have a Teflon base on the bottom of their shoes).

From there a few learn-to-curl nights were held and almost 40 people signed up for the initial league. While some formed their own teams, others were simply created by pulling names out of a hat.

For curling updates, call the Ham Ice Arena at 447-5886 or go to the MWV Curling Club on Facebook or on its newly created website (mwvcurlingclub.com).

Curling is growing in popularity at the Ham Arena in Conway. (JAMIE GEMMITI PHOTO)