Curious about curling? Now is your chance to give it a whirl.
Next month, the Creemore Curling Club is offering training at no cost to anyone who is thinking of trying the sport. Come to the Club’s Sign-Up and Social Night on Friday, October 18 at 7 pm to see what it has to offer.
The Club provides all the equipment needed to play. Interested players need only bring a pair of clean running shoes.
There will be free clinics on Saturday, November 2 and on Thursday, November 5, 12 and 19. Would-be members can also buy a six-week trial membership for $80.
There is a daytime league and a number of evening leagues: Ladies on Monday, Men on Tuesday, and Mixed on Wednesday and Fridays.
For the younger generation, the Club will continue to host the after-school programs it has run for the last 30 years. It also offers curling to grade 6 students through the Nottawasaga and Creemore Public School elective program.
A sport for all ages
Today, the Club has about 95 members whose ages range from 10 to the 80s. “It’s a sport for all ages and can be started at any time of life,” says David Millsap, President of the Creemore Curling Club.
Millsap should know. His family boasts four generations of curlers. His two uncles and grandfather were Past-Presidents of the Curling Club before him. Millsap was introduced to the sport in elementary school and he doesn’t intend the tradition to stop: his two sons, Tate and Jack, have both taken up curling, too.
“Curling is about community,” explains Millsap. “You meet lots of people you wouldn’t otherwise have met. It’s also a great way to shorten the winter and get out.”
Often underestimated in the fitness department, curling can offer health benefits, too. “A lot of people say ‘I didn’t realize that I will feel muscles after doing this’,” says Millsap. “It’s more physical than they thought.”
The Canadian Curling Association advocates curling as good exercise for both body and mind. For two hours, you can burn a lot of calories and work a number of muscles moving up and down the ice, sweeping and making shots.
If those reasons aren’t enough, curling is one of the few sports after which players socialize with the competition. Typically, after a game, both teams come into the clubhouse where the winning team is obligated to buy the losing team a drink, Millsap says.
A curling community
The Creemore Curling Club has been part of this community since the 1920s. It was first mentioned in The Creemore Star on December 15, 1927.
In an article written by Mr. C.B. Smith in that issue, “Creemore has been and will be curlers convened in the local Council Chamber on Thursday evening to discuss the advisability of organizing a club in the village. The pros and cons of the ancient Scotch game were considerably discussed amid curls of smoke.”
According to the Star, local curling enthusiasts had played “pretty crude” games on the village’s rinks on Mill Street.
On November 1, 1928, the newspaper reported that the first sod had been broken for a new rink on Elizabeth Street with two sheets of ice for curling.
The first local bonspiel was held at the end of that first season followed by a party at Harry Woods’ cafe. “Probably twenty pairs of rocks are now owned in the village and considerable enthusiasm prevails,” reported the Star.
The Elizabeth Street arena closed in 1977. One year later, the village celebrated the opening of the Creemore and District Recreation Centre, which is where the community curls today.