[Please read our 2020 update before reading further.]
Our vision is to bring a dedicated curling facility to the greater Monadnock region including Keene, NH, and surrounding parts of eastern Vermont. We are a group of curlers (and fans of curling) who would like to see more people be able to play this great sport. We ideally want to create a 4 or 5-sheet curling center similar to what is available at the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Massachusetts:
We firmly believe that the Monadnock region can support a dedicated curling facility that could offer:
- Curling leagues every night, on weekends and during the day for all ages and experience levels. Young, old and everywhere in between!
- Youth programs for local students – a great way to enjoy winter sports, and also compete against teams from curling clubs around the region. These programs could also be something offered to the local school systems as another activity.
- A competitive Juniors programs for high school and university/college students that could build teams that could compete on a national or even international level. We have Keene State College, Antioch University and other colleges in the region – let’s have a facility where they can compete in another Olympic sport!
- Education programs to help more people learn about the sport.
- A regional curling training center where the US Curling Association and other curling organizations could host training and certification programs, bringing in curlers from all across the region and helping further build the sport.
- Rentals for corporate and personal events. Imagine hosting a team-building exercise – or hosting a birthday party – with throwing some curling rocks!
- Weekend-long “bonspiels” (tournaments) that build community and bring visitors and revenue to the local economy. Fill our hotel rooms and restaurants with curlers!
We want to bring a 4- or 5-sheet curling facility to the Keene area to make all this happen. We want Keene to be known as a regional hub for winter sports activity. We need your help!
Right now if you are in the Monadnock region and want to curl you need to drive about 45 minutes down to Petersham, MA, to play at the Petersham Curling Club (which several of us do). Alternatively you can drive about 1.5 hours either east to the Nashua Curling Club; north to the Upper Valley Curling Club at an arena in Woodstock, Vermont; or west over to the Rutland Rocks Curling Club at an arena in Rutland, VT.
Why should people in Keene, Peterborough and even Brattleboro, VT, have to drive that far to curl?
Our Plan
Right now we are collecting names of people interested and looking to build a community of people in the region who want to bring curling to the area. Initially, our thought is to organize some leagues that either rent time at the Petersham Curling Club or perhaps at the new Keene Ice Arena.
As we build a community of people who want to curl, we can then evaluate the steps involved with creating a dedicated facility. If you think of the number of large buildings around the Keene area that are now available… one of those might make the perfect facility! There are resources available to us from the US Curling Association and the Grand National Curling Club – and we intend to work with those organizations and others in the area to make this happen. (See our plan for a rough timeline of what we’re thinking about.)
Beyond that… we need your help to help us determine what is possible and what we could do to bring curling to the Monadnock region. Please join with us and help us make this a reality!
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