Damariscotta resident Andy Gross (left) plays on one of three curling matches at the Belfast Curling Club. (Mic LeBel photo)
“Curling is addictive,” Martha Kalina said. “I first tried the sport three years ago and I’ve been hooked on it ever since.”
Kalina, a resident of Waldoboro, co-owns Gifts at 136 on Main Street in Damariscotta with her husband, Rick. In October 2021, she attended a two-hour Learn to Curl event at the Belfast Curling Club with a friend looking for something fun and social to do. That same Learn to Curl opportunity is coming up on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6-7, when the Belfast Curling club holds its second and final promotion event of the season for the curious to try the emerging sport.
“Curling is like chess on ice,” said Andrew Gross, who lives in Damariscotta. “I love the strategy and the camaraderie.”
Gross joined the Belfast Curling Club with his wife, Liz, in 2021 after curling for several years in Maryland.
“I saw the sport on TV during the Olympics about a decade ago and was intrigued.” said Gross. “I got a chance to curl in Minnesota and loved the whole culture, so I joined a club in Maryland where I was living at the time.”
Gross and his wife searched the Midcoast and discovered the Belfast Curling Club. Although he admits the commute is a bit length, Gross said the drive is worth it.
“It’s a gem and the commute is worth it to do something we enjoy with a community of people that we like spending time with,” said Gross.
He drives an hour to the club at least twice a week for leagues on Tuesday and Thursday from October when the club opens until March when it closes. The Belfast Curling Club has three sheets for curling and usually a trio of matches is ongoing simultaneously.
“Andy Gross is a skipper and really knows how to curl,” said Kalina. “The skipper is the captain that manages the strategy, directs the team’s stone throwing and calls for the sweeping that can change the direction or speed of a stone after it’s thrown.”
In curling, each team typically has four members that may rotate roles, including a skipper alone directing the stones at the far end of the ice near the bull’s-eye target, a stone launcher “in the hack” and two sweepers that escort the stone and adjust its curling path down the ice.
The two teams alternate turns gliding 16 40-pound stones with handles down the ice at the bull’s-eye target. Twisting the handle deftly at the end of propulsion of the stone is what causes the curling effect that is integral to the sport.
The closest stones to the center at the conclusion of every eight-throw “end” each get one point. Sweepers can make adjustments to the trajectory after the stone is launched by sweeping the ice in front to speed it up and lessen the bend of the curl.
“You can get some good exercise sweeping,” said Kalina.
“There are a variety of strategies,” said Gross. “For example, a team can have a good stone placement near the center of ‘the house’ and then in subsequent turns try to block the path to that stone from their opponent – thereby hiding the winning stone or stones behind a ‘guard’ stone,” said Gross. “The team that goes last during each end has what is called “the hammer,” said Gross. “The hammer is a big advantage and that team should score 1 or possibly 2. If you don’t have the hammer you’re trying to limit them to one point and you “steal” the end if you score without the hammer.”
“I’m still learning, but I can throw a decent guard stone,” said Kalina. “I think the challenge to improve is why I keep going – you have to keep throwing stones to get better,” said Kalina. “It’s a hoot.”
“Curling is like snowflakes. Two snowflakes are never the same, and two ends in curling are never the same,” said Gross. An “end” is a round of eight throws by each team after which time the closest stones are measured and counted and the end score is posted to the giant scoreboard. “Unique patterns and plays emerge as each end progresses,” Gross said.
It may seem like a new sport, but curling has been around since at least 1511. Researchers found a curling stone in a pond in Scotland with that date etched on it. The old stone had holes drilled in it for fingers – like a bowling ball. As Scots migrated to North America in the 17th and 18th century, they brought curling with them, especially to the Maritime provinces in Canada where it remains very popular today. The Belfast Curling Club was founded in the late 1950s by an enthusiast from New Brunswick.
Curling equipment has evolved a lot since 1511 and modern stones are high tech and pricey, but the Belfast Curling Club provides the stones, which cost thousands of dollars for each set of 16.
“The stones have perfect surfaces and engineered handles that make it easy to spin the rock so as to ‘curl’ it down the ice towards the bull’s-eye target,” Gross said.
The typical membership to play at the Belfast Curling Club per year is $395.
“The club has no full-time employees and is truly a nonprofit, so everyone is expected to volunteer whether it be at the bar, maintaining the ice, or helping with tournaments called bon spiels,” said Gross. “The club has brooms and shoes people can use, but most people buy their own pretty quick.”
In a November Maine Public Radio interview, past Belfast Curling Club President Steve West said that brooms typically cost about $100, shoes are around $200, and broom pads, which need to be replaced per year, are $20 each.
“I bought all the gear, so I guess I’m all-in now,” said Kalina.
Curling began in Scotland outdoors, and it’s still played outside in other countries and states in the USA. Some enthusiasts in Maine create their own stones and use regular house brooms to curl on ponds and lakes.
“Do-it-yourself curling is definitely fun and has its own appeal, but there’s nothing like playing on the predictable ice maintained by experts that you experience at a curling club like Belfast Curling Club,” said Gross. “Ice at hockey arenas is less desirable because it’s too perfectly flat. To create special dedicated curling ice, the Belfast Curling Club maintenance crew performs ‘pebbling’ during which they spray the surface with water so that droplets freeze fast in a rounded pattern. That results in uniformly bumpy ice with a surface that offers less friction and more glide for the stones.”
A quick search online shows that it’s possible for Lincoln County residents eager to try curling to make their own curling stones out of plastic milk jugs full of frozen water. One can curl those crude stones by twisting the handles when releasing the milk jug to slide down a pond or lake at the target painted on the ice. There isn’t much precision, but it’s still fun competition.
Another way to create curling stones calls for two metal kitchen mixing bowls filled with cement attached top to top with a PVC handle affixed to the top bowl.
Another organized curling option Lincoln County curlers can commute to is the Pine Tree Curling Club at William B. Troubh Ice Arena in Portland. The ice used by Pine Tree Curling Club is arena ice that is not dedicated specifically to curling.
“Socializing is integral to curling,” said Gross. “After you curl, there is a tradition called ‘broom stacking’ where opponents sit down together for post-game conversation and beverages. The losing team cleans the ice and winners buy the first beverages. You share a table and usually you hang out for an hour or so – kind of like bowling.”
The Belfast Curling Club and other clubs hold festivals, known as bonspiels, during which teams from all over gather for a tournament.
“There’s a lot of socializing at bonspiels – group meals, beverages and the teams play some matches, too,” said Gross, who volunteered to tend bar during a November bonspiel at Belfast Curling Club. “There were 24 teams including curlers from as far away as Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Canada. Some of our players go to other clubs for bonspiels. We all look forward to seeing our curling friends from other clubs.”
The Belfast Curling Club holds Learn to Play recruitment events prior to each three month session: one in October, and one in January. The next event is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 6 and Sunday, Jan. 7. The cost is $40 per person. If one becomes a member at the club, $40 is deducted from the membership dues.
For more information about the Belfast Curling Club, go to belfastcurlingclub.org, email info@belfastcurlingclub.org, or find the club on Facebook and Instagram.
