Category Archives: Curling

Keene’s Chloe York Heading To USA Curling Junior National Championships

Team Rodgers photo

We are delighted to announce that Keene’s Chloe York will be playing in the USA Curling Junior National Championships in Willmar, Minnesota from January 16-23, 2015 as one of the top 10 Junior women’s curling teams in the USA! Last week at the regional “playdowns” (tournament), her team won one of two spots from the eastern USA for the “Nationals”. The team will now travel to Minnesota starting January 15 to compete against nine other teams.

Chloe, on the right in the photo, is 13 years old and an 8th grade student at the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene. Chloe started curling in 2011 at the Petersham Curling Club about 45 minutes south of Keene in Petersham, MA. Her team is led by skip (captain) Rebecca Rodgers, 15, also from Petersham Curling Club, and includes Anna Cenzalli, 14, from Cape Cod Curling Club, and Elizabeth Janiak, 14, from the Nashua (NH) Country Club. Chloe plays the “lead” position that throws the first rocks in a game. All of the girls have been curling for 5-8 years and have been playing in competitive bonspiels (tournaments) throughout the region.

Given that this “Team Rodgers” is a new team without any corporate sponsorship, they are actively asking for donations to help fund the costs of flying 8 people (the 4 girls and their parent chaperones) out to Minnesota and housing/feeding them for the 9 days of the event. If you would like to help support this amazing opportunity for these girls, please visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/teamrodgerscurling

If you are with a corporation or other entity that might be willing to help financially, please contact team coach Dan York at 603-439-0024 or [email protected] .

If you would like to follow the activities of the team over the next few weeks as they prepare for and then compete at the 2016 Junior National Championships, please follow the team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TeamRodgersCurling where they will be posting updates.

Thank you to everyone in the area who has already helped out the team! The girls are so excited for this incredible opportunity to play at a national level!

P.S. Wouldn’t it be great if we could offer the sport of curling in Keene? Please let us know you are interested!

Watch The US National Curling Championships Live All This Week

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If you want to watch some outstanding curling, the US National Curling Championships are streaming live out of Kalamazoo, Michigan all this week and you can watch them live at:

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Events/Championships/National-Events/National-Championships/Live-Webstream

These are the best Men’s and Women’s teams in the US all competing to be “Team USA” and represent the USA in the World Curling Championships coming up for Women on March 14-22 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan and for Men on March 28-April 5 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The remaining games that will be streamed live are:

Wednesday, 8 a.m. ET Heath McCormick v. Korey Dropkin
Wednesday, 12 p.m. ET Patti Lank v. Kate Bert
Wednesday, 4 p.m. ET Brady Clark v. John Shuster
Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET Erika Brown v. Nina Roth
Thursday, 8 a.m. ET Brandon Corbett v. Paul Pustovar
Thursday, 12 p.m./4 p.m. ET Tiebreaker games, if needed
Thursday, 8 p.m. Page playoffs, women’s teams to be determined
Friday 12 p.m. Page playoffs, men’s teams to be determined
Friday, 4 p.m. ET Women’s semifinal
Friday, 8 p.m. ET Men’s semifinal
Saturday, 10 a.m. ET Women’s final
Saturday, 3 p.m. ET Men’s final

We should see some outstanding curling this week!

Video: Watch A Juniors Curling Game At Nashua (NH) Curling Club

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Interested in watching a curling game played by youth? Earlier this month I streamed some of the games of the Nashua Juniors Curling Bonspiel (ages 12+) coming out of the Nashua Curling Club in nearby Nashua, NH, and this is one you might enjoy as it was a well-played game with a nail-biting finish! My 12-year-old daughter Chloe was one of the players and I tried throughout the game to provide some commentary about what was going on.

One of the great aspects about youth curling is that when the kids go out on the ice to play they are all alone. There are no coaches or adults. When they go through the door onto the ice, it is entirely up to them. All the great moments are theirs… as are all the mistakes. They have to do everything to keep the game going. They have to do it all. All we can do as parents is be on the other side of the glass watching…. 🙂

This video gives a good example of youth curling – the game starts at about 7:20 into the video. Enjoy! (And please sign up if you’d like to bring this kind of youth sports activity to the Monadnock region!)

Youth Curling Open House Saturday, Nov 1, 2014, at Petersham Curling Club

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If you have children from age 5 all the way up to 21 and are curious if the sport of curling might be something for them to consider, you can check it out at a Youth Curling Open House happening tomorrow, Saturday, November 1, 2014, at the Petersham Curling Club about 45 minutes south of Keene in Petersham, MA. You can come by any time between 9:00am and 12noon and actually get on the ice to try it out. Learn about “throwing” the rocks (we actually slide them), using the brooms and about some of the strategy that many of us find so fascinating… you should even get a chance to play a bit of a game!

Plus you’ll get to meet some of the great youth already playing in the Petersham CC youth curling program and to learn about the benefits of the program. It should be a great time! Please see the flyer below for more info (click/tap on it for a larger version).

Getting to the Petersham Curling Club is pretty straightforward. From Keene, NH, just take Route 32 past the Keene airport and follow it all the way down through Athol, MA, and on over to Petersham, MA. The PCC is right on Route 32. (See the PCC directions page for more info.)

If you can’t make it tomorrow but are interested in learning more, the Petersham youth curling program takes place on Saturdays from now through March. For a local NH contact, you can email me as I help coaching the “Little Rocks” (ages 7-12) program at the PCC. You can also connect with the Petersham youth curling program on Facebook. Youth curling is a great experience – the kids learn a great amount about the sport and have a lot of fun along the way!

Curling Season Underway At Petersham Curling Club

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Want to get started curling now? While we continue the work of building the Monadnock Curling Club, you can get started right now at the Petersham Curling Club (PCC) about 45 minutes south of Keene, NH, in Petersham, MA.

The season has begun there and curling leagues are running all nights of the week and on the weekends. There are leagues for men, women, mixed teams, competitive teams, beginners and youth. You can contact the Petersham CC to find out how to get more involved. If you have never tried curling before, they do offer “Learn To Curl” clinics from time to time.

Several of us involved with this Monadnock Curling Club effort curl down at Petersham CC because it is the closest curling club to Keene. It’s a great place and an awesome group of people!

As far as getting there, it’s a straightforward (although winding and twisting) drive down Route 32 (the road by the Keene airport) that goes down through Richmond, NH, then over into Royalston, MA, and then Athol and finally Petersham. The PCC is right on Route 32 so as long as you stay on the road you’ll get there.

Please do check it out and consider getting started with curling today!