Enjoying Watching Olympic Curling? TRY IT OUT This Sunday in Petersham, MA

Petersham Open HousesAre you enjoying watching curling at the Sochi Olympics? Are you intrigued by the game and want to learn more?  Would you like to try it out yourself?

The great news is that you CAN try it this Sunday, February 16, from 12-5pm, and then again on Thursday, February 20, from 6-9pm.

The great folks down at the Petersham Curling Club (PCC), about 45 minutes south of Keene, are holding two FREE open houses to help people learn about the game.  As noted on their page about the curling open houses, the two upcoming dates are:

  • Sun, Feb 16, 12-5 pm – At this Open House you’ll have a chance to actually try the sport of curling.  You’ll learn how to deliver a stone, the role of sweeping and more. This will be a great opportunity to get on the ice and experience the sport yourself!
  • Thurs, Feb 20, 6-9 pm – This will be a week-night version of the Feb 16th Open House where you will again get a chance to try out the sport of curling.

All you need to bring is a pair of clean, rubber-soled shoes and your enthusiasm!  You’ll have the chance to try out the great game of curling that you are seeing on the Olympics.

It’s easy to get to the Petersham Curling Club – from Keene just head south on Route 32 (going down past the Keene airport) and stay on Route 32 all the way down through Richmond, NH, Royalston, MA, Athol and on into Petersham.  The club is located right off of Route 32. More information can be found on the PCC directions page. In good weather it takes about 45 minutes to get from Keene down to the Petersham club.

The Petersham Curling Club is a great place to curl and is where several of us involved with starting up the Monadnock Curling Club all curl.  We strongly encourage you to head down to Petersham, MA, and check out the Open Houses.  And if the curling bug bites you as it has us, please do join the PCC and start playing the awesome sport of curling!

And then…  please let us know you are interested in seeing curling come to Keene!

 

Great Video About The Sport Of Curling In Petersham, MA!

Recently WWLP-TV22 recorded a great video segment about curling at the Petersham Curling Club as part of their “Mass Appeal” show. The video gives a great overview of the sport of curling and shows how open the sport is to anyone to participate.  (And if you are interested in trying out curling yourself, the Petersham Curling Club has open houses about curling coming up on February 8, 16 and 20!)

And if you think this looks like a great kind of club to have in Keene, please sign up to help us! (And please read our vision of what we are trying to do.)

Road Trip To Montreal? Awesome Women’s Curling In Scotties Tournament of Hearts Feb 1-9

2014 Scotties Tournament of HeartsWow! I had no idea that the amazing “Scotties Tournament of Hearts” was happening this year so close to us up in Montreal, Quebec!

From Saturday, February 1, 2014, through Sunday, February 9, you’ll have the opportunity to watch some of the best women’s curling teams out there competing in this annual Canadian curling championship. Given the Canadian love of curling, the competition is fierce and so the teams that make it into the “Scotties” play at an unbelievable level of the sport. They typically make shots that I could only dream of someday making!

Alas, I don’t think that I’ll be able to make it up to Montreal this year, but if you can it would be an amazing experience to see these curling teams in action!  No news on their site or their Facebook page about a live video stream but perhaps we’ll see more about that closer to the time of the event.

Want To Try Curling? 3 Free Open Houses Coming Up At Nearby Petersham Curling Club

Petersham Open HousesWant to get on the ice and actually try the sport of curling?  Are you excited about the upcoming Olympics and want to see curling in action?  Would you like to understand how the game of “chess on ice” really works?

The great folks down at the Petersham Curling Club (PCC), about 45 minutes south of Keene, are holding three FREE open houses over the next month to help people learn about the game.  As noted on their page about the curling open houses, the three dates are:

  • Sat, Feb 8, 6-10 pm – At this “Spectator Open House” you’ll have a chance to watch curling games and ask questions of club members who are there to help explain the sport.
  • Sun, Feb 16, 12-5 pm – At this Open House you’ll have a chance to actually try the sport of curling.  You’ll learn how to deliver a stone, the role of sweeping and more. This will be a great opportunity to get on the ice and experience the sport yourself!
  • Thurs, Feb 20, 6-9 pm – This will be a week-night version of the Feb 16th Open House where you will again get a chance to try out the sport of curling.

In the weeks following these open houses, the Petersham Curling Club will be holding several “Learn To Curl” events that will offer dedicated instruction for those who want to learn more. During the Open Houses there will also be special membership offers for those who would like to join the Petersham Curling Club.

It’s easy to get there – from Keene just head south on Route 32 (going down past the Keene airport) and stay on Route 32 all the way through Athol, MA, and on into Petersham.  The club is located right off of Route 32. More information can be found on the PCC directions page. In good weather it takes about 45 minutes to get from Keene down to the Petersham club.

The Petersham Curling Club is a great place to curl and is where several of us involved with starting up the Monadnock Curling Club all curl.  We strongly encourage you to head down to Petersham, MA, and check out the Open Houses.  And if the curling bug bites you as it has us, please do join the PCC and start playing the awesome sport of curling!

And then…  please let us know you are interested in seeing curling come to Keene!

Here’s What Curling Looks Like – Great Video Of Vermont “Learn To Curl” Event

Want to see what a “Learn to Curl” event looks like? Here’s a great video of our friends up at the Green Mountain Curling Club in Vermont holding a “Learn To Curl” event – check it out and see how people get started:

Having been involved in the early days of the GMCC when I lived in Burlington, it’s great to see familiar faces and to see that they are doing well!  I curled many a Friday night at the rink shown in the video that’s located just 45 mins north of Burlington in Bedford, Quebec.

If YOU would like to try out curling, our friends down at the Petersham Curling Club about 45 mins south of Keene in Petersham, MA, are holding 3 curling open house events on February 8, February 16 and February 20.  They will be a GREAT opportunity to try out curling!

And if you’d like to see curling brought to the Keene region, please help us out and sign up to help us make that happen!

Watch Live This Weekend – Some Of The Best Curling Teams In The World At Continental Cup 2014

Continental CupWe have an amazing opportunity this weekend (Jan 17-19) to watch some of the best curling teams in the world competing against each other in the “Continental Cup” in Las Vegas.  All of it will be streamed LIVE across the Internet at:

http://www.youtube.com/worldcurlingtv

The Continental Cup is a unique format that pits 6 US and Canadian teams in “Team North America” against 6 teams in “Team World” from Scotland, Sweden, Japan and Norway.  In contrast to most other curling events that are a series of regular team games, the Continental Cup has team games, singles games, mixed doubles games and ‘skins’ games.  The scoring is explained on the event web site.

The remaining games that will be live streamed are (all times US Eastern):

Friday 10 PM – Team
Saturday 12 PM – Mixed Doubles
Saturday 4:30 PM – Team
Saturday 9:30 PM – Team
Sunday 4 PM – Skins
Sunday 9 PM – Skins

According to the US Curling Association web site, NBC Sports Network will also televise two of the Saturday games… although they will be broadcast on Sunday.   

The World Curling TV stream on YouTube will be streaming live, of course, and will probably be the best place to see all the action.  It should be some outstanding curling so do check it out!

May We Suggest A New Year’s Resolution? Let’s Bring Curling To Keene!

curling rocksHappy New Year! With the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics only about a month away, how about we resolve to make 2014 the year we figure out how to bring the sport of curling to Keene and the greater Monadnock region of southwestern NH and surrounding parts of Vermont and MA?

We need your help!  Right now we’d really like you to show your support for bringing curling to the region – and to let us know you are interested!  We’re looking to hold an organizational meeting soon and would like to make sure we invite people who are interested.

Let’s make 2014 the year we bring curling to the Monadnock region!

Watch Olympic Curling Qualification LIVE This Week (Dec 10-15)

Want to see amazing Olympic-level curling live over the Internet?  The World Curling Federation is streaming the Olympic Qualification Event live via YouTube.  The schedule is online and runs from today, December 10, through Sunday, December 15, 2013. I saw part of the first Korea vs. Japan game today and it was excellent!

World Curling Federation Olympic Qualification EventThis is the first time this “OQE” event has been run as a way to identify the last two teams that will compete in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Essentially, there are already 8 curling teams qualified for the Sochi Olympics and this event is a chance for everyone who hasn’t already qualified to potentially earn one of the last two spots. The USA already qualified for the Women’s event but the USA Men’s curling team is in this event vying for one of the two men’s teams.

Note that the times on the schedule of games are in Central European Time, which is currently 6 hours ahead of US Eastern time.

Tune in to watch some excellent curling!  And then… if you’d like to see the sport of curling brought to southwestern NH, help us get the word out and let us know you are interested!

WMUR To Showcase Curling In NH At 7pm Tonight on NH Chronicle

WMUR logoTonight (Dec 2) at 7:00pm WMUR’s “New Hampshire Chronicle” will feature a segment on the growth of the sport of curling in New Hampshire.  As they say:

A new ice sport is gaining traction and you don’t need skates, just some heavy granite stones and a few brooms. Curling is becoming a popular sport and there is a club in Conway that is helping it catch on.

The segment is about the Mount Washington Valley Curling Club up on the opposite end of the state in Conway, NH. The MWVCC was formed in 2011 and curls at the Ham Ice Arena.

This is VERY cool to see and I encourage everyone who can to watch it to see about curling in New Hampshire!   (And then let’s please join together to help bring curling to the Monadnock region!)