Sweeping Stones

Standing there with your team on the ice, you push your stone barely releasing it before the hog, praying it will not be removed. Two of your teammates sweep to the tee line and they continue until the stone has settled. Our stone has settled in the center of the button. We wait as the other team goes, missing the house completely. Welcome to curling.

Mackenzie Page, one of the art teachers here at New Ulm High School is involved in many activities outside of teaching. However, she enjoys filling her time most with a sport many of us in New Ulm are unfamiliar with, curling.

The purpose of a curling game is to score points by getting a granite stone, called a rock, closest to the center of the house, also known as the button. The player pushing the rock has to release it before the hog, or also known as the line that can determine if a rock will be removed or not. The path of the rock is influenced by sweeping and brushing in front of the stone. Sweeping and brushing can influence the speed of the rock, moving it closer to the intended target. Once both teams have thrown all eight of their stones in an alternate pattern, scoring of the round or end can occur. A single game can take anywhere from eight to ten ends.

Page has been curling since she was seven, playing the sport for about seventeen years. Six of those years she has competed competitively, attending two Junior National Championships. “I have taken a break from competitive curling to focus on school and work, but would like to continue in the future,” said Page.

Many of us, like Page, can thank our parents for introducing us to the sports we are involved in now. Her family saw an open house event that the Mankato Curling Club was having to gain interest in. “Ever since then I have fallen in love with the sport,” said Page.

She describes her love for the sport through the relationships she has made. “I have met amazing people, some of which are very close friends. When you attend multiple bonspiels, you tend to see the same people and it feels like one big happy family,” Page said.

This friendly environment Page describes comes from the team nature of the sport. Curling is a versatile sport, being played as an Olympic and Paralympic winter sport for women, men, mixed doubles and mixed wheelchair teams.

Although curling can be a year-long sport depending on ice availability, the Mankato Curling Club where Page curls only has availability from November to March. “Weekly I help out with the Junior curlers, Thursdays and Sundays I curl myself,” she said. With her weekly practice Page also occasionally participates in bonspiels, which are tournaments for curling.

Page has found joy, comfort and most of all family within curling, which is something we all look for in sports.