Curl San Diego

I tried curling at the San Diego Curling club about 3 years ago with my wife. Who would have thought that you could curl in San Diego?! After playing once I was hooked. I love the combination of strategy and physical skill, and play almost every Wednesday night. Besides, what other sport dictates buying the losing team a round of beers? So either way it is a win-​win :).
Besides from the game itself, the people at the club are very friendly and welcoming. Definitely worth checking it out!

What a great way to get in touch with my inner Canadian, eh!
No, really, my family does actually hail from the great white north. And I was a little arrogant about my natural curling ability going in. I thought curling skills were just something my people were born with… oh how wrong I was…
First, everyone sing with me
Everybody come and play
Throw every last care away
Let’s go to the iceoplex…
Today.
Ok, so thats not how the song goes, but I think Robin Sparkles probably had a song about curling somewhere in that album of hers. What is more Canadian than curling? I actually took the learn to curl seminar with these guys back in 2009, but it still reigns as one of the top fun things I have done in my 6 years of living in San Diego.
Curling is harder than it looks, but its still super fun to try. They first start you off just learning how to push off and slide on the ice, and this is the hardest part I think. Once you have the stone, it really helps to balance you and its a lot easier to slide on the ice, so dont be discouraged if you really suck at first. The next hardest thing is not to throw the stone too hard. In our class it seemed like the girls were doing better than the guys, since all of the guys stones were flying past the target.
If you are at all interested in learning more about the sport, I highly recommend trying it out. I would try it sometime not near when the winter Olympics are on TV, since the clinics are much harder to get in to when its fresh on peoples mind.
Now if only I can find some 5 pin bowling…

Prior to this past Sunday, never had I launched a stone out of a hack, down the sheet, into the house! You either?
Fortunately, Curl San Diego helped change that and now I consider myself having somewhere slightly above a total Curling Virgin and… well, any other mastery level of curling.
They host a 2.5 hour Intro to Curling workshop once a month at the Iceoplex in Escondido for $ 25. Money well spent as the instructors are friendly, fun, and able to herd groups of random people (ages ranged from teenagers to grandparents) to teach us all the basics and guide us through an hour-​long pseudo-​game.
A great way to spend a few hours doing something you probably never thought you’d do. Chasing after 52 pound granite rocks as you prepare to sweep your stone into the scoring circle, all on ice, is quite the hilarious sight.
My friend and I had a great time though next time we’d probably bring a bigger group of our own friends to make it even more fun. We also would have set an over/​under on how many people we’d see wipe out (tally was about 6 for Sunday).
I’d love to give them 5 stars, but the groups were a bit large so during the actual game, you’d have to wait quite a bit between turns to launch the stone.
Great people, great fun, and one of the only (socially acceptable) times you’ll find yourself running down ice while your team yells «HARD!» (as in, sweep hard)
HARD!!!

After watching the last Winter Olympics, I googled curling and found Curl San Diego. Their Learn to Curl sessions give you a fantastic introduction to the sport! There were people here from kids to grandparents. The instructors take the time to explain what and why you do what you do and make sure you do it safely. I loved it so much, I joined a league. Tip: If you try curling and really like it, become a club member and save 10%.

Well, I had a blast tonight!
What did I do? I went Curling!!!
Yah, you know that game in the Winter Olympics where people are throwing round stones and using brooms and sweeping the ice? The one where you’re like «WTF are they doing?» and «Why the hell is this an Olympic sport?»
But yeah, that one… and yah, strangely enough, I had fun… PLUS!!! I have a new found appreciation for the USA Curling Team representing us in the Winter Olympics! You’re probably wondering how I found this? Well, I have friends who will be going to Vancouver to watch the Winter Olympics, and they were able get tickets to watch Curling. So, they actually found out about this clinic and invited me to go… I’m glad I did and I really want to go again… :)
Let me tell yah, this game is hard as f*ck! Yah, it looks so dayam easy on television, but once you get on the ice and you try to do what they do, you’ll realize there’s a reason why they’re in the Olympics and we’re not…
I went to the Jan 30^th, 9pm «Learn to Curl» clinic. I was surprised at how many people were there… I’d say there was about 30 – 40 people… Our instructors were very cool and you can tell they have a passion for this sport. The cost for this ~2.5hr clinic was $ 20. Definitely worth it!!! This particular clinic was held at the Escondido Iceoplex. (I’m not sure if they hold these clinics at other ice arenas though…)
So, what did I learn? Well, I don’t think I learned enough about the technicalities/​rules/​strategy of the sport but I learned a little bit of the skills required to play this sport. It was definitely enough to have an awesome time, though! :)
Recommended attire is clean closed-​toed shoes and semi-​warm attire. I wore closed-​toed shoes, jeans, t-​shirt and a peacoat. I was fairly comfortable but I would recommend wearing sweats or something more stretchy than jeans and maybe a hoodie or a fleece pull-​over. (It helps if you don’t have clothes flailing about…) Also, if you get cold pretty quickly, wear some thicker socks and bring a pair of gloves. The club provides everything else: brooms, curling stones, and shoes (well, attachments that go on your shoes to help you slide on the ice).
If it’s your first time curling, you’re more than likely gonna fall on your a$$ so you will be spending some time on the ice (unless you’re really good at gliding and balancing your body weight on one foot) but not really enough where you’re going to need a change of clothing. Oh, and if you have sensitive knees, you might want to bring a knee pad (yah, just one… for your trailing leg).
Overall, this was such an awesome experience that I want to go again. If you’re looking for something different, new and extremely fun, check out one of the «Learn to Curl» clinics… their upcoming schedule is on their website…