Bonding Through Bonspiels

Bringing people together through curling

by Isaiah Johnston staff writer

What ancient Olympic sport involves a 40 pound rock, ice, brooms, and a team of 4 players? Curling, a sport first played in the 16th century, is one of the oldest team sports. The exact origins of curling are unclear, but it is believed to come from Scotland and the Netherlands, and it was originally played on frozen lakes and ponds. Each team has 2 stones that are slid across the ice towards the goal, which is called the house. The team that has both of their stones closest to the house scores the point, and the team with the most points by the end of the game wins.

Despite the number of people who aren’t familiar with curling, it’s incredibly popular across the world. “It’s one of the fastest growing winter Olympic sports,” says Tom Violette, executive director of the TC Curling Club. In 2014, Don Piche founded the Club, hoping to introduce curling to the people of TC and to help improve social engagement after watching it at the Winter Olympics for years. “I’d never tried it. It looked like it’d be a lot of fun. It looked like it’d be something anybody could do,” Piche explains. “I was talking with Center Ice about try[ing] this. I contacted clubs in Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Midland, and they said ‘we’re so happy that you’re gonna start curling in Traverse City.’ It was these communities that were instrumental in helping us bring the game to Traverse City and getting us started.”

As ancient as the sport is, curling has many benefits such as teaching respect and discipline while being involved in community. “[It’s] a game of respect and integrity and relationships and community and healthy competition,” Piche asserts. “What I’ve really found...is that anybody can play this game.” When you first think of an indoor winter sport, your mind goes to one slippery thing everyone in Michigan can think of: ice. But, unlike hockey and some other winter sports, the ice used in curling isn’t slippery. When you curl, the rinks have a texture that makes the stones travel to its desired goal, but not enough to make the frantic sweepers trip and fall. All that sweeping is in- tended to allow the heavy rock to glide across the surface of the ice on a straight path towards the house, scoring the point in an attempt to beat the enemy team. Overall, it seems pretty simple.

In curling, tournaments are known as bonspiels, “[which] translates to ‘a good fight,’” Piche defines. A bonspiel is a curling game where opposing teams face off against each other, and the winner advances to face the next opponent. It’s similar to bracket tournament games, but it’s something that people of all ages from all over the world can participate in, not just professionals. Sweeping ice, sliding stones, and skidding on ice; what more of a fun game in winter could you ask for?

The Curling Club’s new location at the Cherryland Center will allow them to host tournaments, regular games, and other events. “We’re hoping to offer various leagues, [and] we’ll have curling in that building [probably] seven days a week,” says Jill Riecke, programming director of the TC Curling Club. “People can sign up for classes to learn how to curl. They can sign up for novice leagues, which [are] for beginners, and then we’ll have openings for adults. We’re also going to be starting some junior programming for children as young as five or six years old up until ninety years old.” Eventually, the Curling Club hopes to expand their offerings to high school students and start leagues for that age bracket, too.

For many, curling is an opportunity to try something new and to get to know other people involved in the sport. In curling, there is an emphasis on having fun but also having competitions and making bonds through a shared love of the sport. “I’ve been able to meet friends all over the world, and so if I want [to go on] vacation, I have friends in other countries and all over Canada,’’ Violette mentions. He is looking forward to the new facility opening soon and for the curling club to finally have a home of its own. “There will be a bar area for the adults, and we’ll have a kitchen facility as well. So, it’ll be a pretty nice place to hang out, get to know other people, and have a game.’’ //