White River Junction
After eight years calling Union Arena in Woodstock its exclusive home, Upper Valley Curling this fall expanded for the first time to Barwood Arena behind Hartford High School, where it offered a series of Learn to Curl training sessions as well as informal league play.
Last Saturday’s Learn to Curl finale drew 18 curious attendees — some trying the sport for the first time ever, others for the first time in years — along with 16 regular UVC members, turning Barwood’s surface into a festive home for an Olympic game popular in Canada and Europe and nicknamed “chess on ice” because of its myriad strategic possibilities.
Renting coveted ice time at Barwood this fall was part of Upper Valley Curling’s efforts to recruit new members and provide a more accessible venue for those living east of Woodstock. The club grew immediately by four members once the Hartford sessions began in late October, president Paula Flanders said, and the nonprofit UVC expects that number to increase with the new season beginning in mid-January. The final fall-season outing is this Saturday (no Learn to Curl).
“We started noticing that a lot of people from places like Hanover, Lebanon and White River Junction were becoming interested,” Flanders said prior to Saturday’s action while her husband, Jay Flanders, provided an introductory overview for Learn to Curlers in Barwood’s lobby. “This also gives us another day of ice time and more options for members.”
Its sport as habit-forming as any, Upper Valley Curling boasts its share of devotees who play as much as possible, traveling to bonspiels in Rutland, Plymouth, N.H., and elsewhere to complement league play. The organization also holds Sunday night outings at Union Arena.
Curling’s basic rules are simple. Teams of two to four players glide 42-pound granite stones approximately 150 feet down the ice (the courses are known as sheets), attempting to land as many stones as possible near the center of targets known as houses.
Curling’s chess-like schemes are influenced by variables such as ice conditions and opponent strengths and weaknesses. Each team chooses a captain, or skip, who literally calls the shots before each release. He or she may also help coach the intensity of his or her team’s sweepers, who use brushes to smooth the paths of stones whenever more glide and distance is desired.
Jessie Cullen, of Windsor, became a regular last month and is constantly augmenting her approach.
“There’s a lot of strategy,” she said. “It’s a whole thought process in terms of how much to curve and where you want to aim the stone.”
The game is also more demanding physically than it may appear, players say. Delivery requires balance and precision, and sweepers get a legitimate cardiovascular workout. Quechee resident Jesse Vazzano, who played on the team opposing Cullen’s on Saturday, has found it perhaps more physically challenging than anticipated.
“It’s a good workout for your hips and legs,” she said. “It doesn’t take long before you start sweating.”
Still relative newcomers, Cullen and Vazzano continue to pick up on tips from more experienced players such as Steve Noble, a previous curling club member in Rochester, N.Y., and Nashua, N.H., before moving to Meriden last spring. While becoming increasingly proficient, Noble’s favorite aspect of the game continues to be “broomstacking” — a tradition of socializing after games where the winning team buys the losing team its first round of drinks.
“The social aspect is probably one of the game’s best customs,” Noble said. “You get to sit around and talk with other people who love it.”
The opportunity to socialize is what drew many of Saturday’s Learn to Curl participants, who were learning rules and techniques demonstrated by member instructors. Michael Smith, of West Lebanon, joined three friends, all first-timers, for an outing while Lebanon couple Annie Farrell and Joffrey Peters made a date of it.
Eden Sabala, events manager at Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center for the Arts, had attended Learn to Play earlier in the season at Barwood and persuaded several fellow members of EmpowHER — a network for women of color among Dartmouth’s staff and faculty — to join her for another round on Saturday. A group from the school’s non-student LGBTQ community also played.
“It’s been a fun way to connect with people outside of the school,” said Kristin Hambridge, a Dartmouth staff counselor who’d previously tried the game while living in Oregon. “I just moved here in August, so I’m still meeting people.”
Sabala and Hambridge weren’t the only Learn to Curlers who had at least some prior playing experience. The group also included Matt Ueckerman, an Ontario native who played from middle school until he was about 23 years old.
“It’s been 10 years,” said Ueckerman, who now resides in Etna. “I seem to be remembering the rules, so that’s a good sign.”
Jared Pendak cen be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.