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Throwing stones on Rocky Top with the Great Smoky Mountains Curling Club

by Clint Casey

At first glance, the idea of curling might seem strange—like a modified version of bocce ball for Canadians or shuffleboard for Buffalo, NY. It’s a sport that’s frequently the butt of some Olympic joke, overshadowed by any event where scandal is even a remote possibility. (A drug that might enhance the performance of a curler is beyond imagination.) However, this spring, a group of Yankee transplants and curious potential rock throwers established the Great Smoky Mountains Curling Club to fill a perceived sporting void in the Knoxville area.

A few veterans began playing league games three years ago at the Icearium, but decided to form a club this year at the Ice Chalet. It was a tight time limit on matches at the Icearium that dictated the move. “We couldn’t complete games, and that was just because we just weren’t fast enough. We have a lot of discussion, and there’s a lot of instruction with young curlers,” Mark Press, a GSMCC board member, says.

Currently, the club gathers for matches every Sunday from 8 to 10:30 p.m. The diverse mix of 30 curlers trickle in with sweeping brooms and six-packs of beer in tow, but, on this particular Sunday, its members will wait for a tardy troupe practicing for an upcoming performance of “The Nutcracker” to surrender the ice. The figure skaters clear the ice, the Zamboni gives it a swift cleaning, and the curling begins.

The object of the game is to push, or deliver, a 42-pound rock across a 146-foot sheet of ice with enough accuracy and finesse to slide it into the center of concentric circles, the house. The stone, made exclusively of Scottish granite, has a handle on top to improve the accuracy of a throw by slightly rotating it on release, making it curl. But, even if a rock is thrown straight, it’ll pick up a spin of its own.

Before a match, the ice is sprinkled with drops of warm water that create small bumps on the ice, allowing the bottom of the rock to glide across the bumps without touching the ice’s flat surface.

Each team has four players—a lead, a second, a third and a skip. (The skip, an experienced player, is responsible for reading the ice to determine how much the rock is curling.) All four players on each team deliver two rocks, alternating with the other team. The lead throws first, followed by the second and third. The skip typically throws the last two rocks, calling the shots from the opposite end while the others are shooting.

To deliver the stone, the player crouches with one foot in a foothold, with one hand on the rock handle. Pushing off the foothold, the player forms an outstretched position with the rock in front along the line of delivery.

The investment of time in becoming a competent curler varies, but athletic ability isn’t a reliable measure of talent. “I see a couple of people out here that don’t look like any kind of athlete at all. The stretch that you see when people get down real low and throw the rock and aim, some people are nowhere near that. They’re just a big ball of a body that goes out there and hopes they don’t fall over,” Larry LaBoard, manager of the Ice Chalet and former member of the Ice Vols, says. “But, they look like they’re having a good time.”

Once the rock is delivered, the skip coaches the other two players on the team to sweep its path with brooms to create friction, polishing the bumps on the ice, allowing the stone to travel farther. And, the brushes must cross the full path of the ice.

To its credit, curling requires little in the way of special equipment. “Most of us just wear sneakers. We’ve got the sliders and the brooms and the ice and the rocks. All we really need is the enthusiasm and interest, and we can take it from there,” Press says. (A slider has slick surface on its underside that slips over a rubber-soled shoe, used for smooth delivery.)

Northern clubs generally have ice dedicated to curling organizations, but Press says that playing on ice that changes from week to week is part of the game, adding that it increases the amount of strategy and the need for skill. “The first couple shots of the game you read the ice you’re playing with that night and just deal with it.”

The sport originated in Scotland and was traditionally performed on frozen lakes. Club member Ian Gold says, “The ice changes with every single throw. I couldn’t imagine playing on ice that needs the snow swept off of it.”

Another distinction between northern clubs and the GSMCC is that clubs up north have different leagues for men and women. However, age makes little difference in either region for dividing teams. Kids can start playing at age five—with a smaller, 20-pound rock—but there isn’t a retirement age. “You might see someone in their late 70s just starting the sport. We’re happy and surprised with how the community has taken to curling. We have quite an age range of people,” Sandra Takata, GSMCC vice president, says.

The SMCC has been growing steadily, and one reason it decided to form was to have funding for more recruitment. “There’s no budget in just throwing stones,” Press says. “We know that we’re looking at another eight members for January. Things have gone really quickly for a club in this town,” Takata says.

Additionally, a percentage of club fees is earmarked for ice time and membership in professional organizations—the U.S. Curling Association and the Great Lakes Curling Association. “That’s part of being a club, and it brings a national feeling to it all,” Takata says. “It allows us to play in tournaments if any team decides that they’re of that quality.”

Each match involves 10 rounds, or ends, of play on four sheets of ice. One end is complete when all 16 rocks—eight rocks per team—have been delivered.

Only one team can score in each end. One point is scored for each rock closer to the middle of the house than any of the opposing team’s rocks.

After the friendly confrontation on pebbled ice, the club members unwind in the lounge. The winning teams present their opponents with consolation beers, a curling tradition, and defrost by the fire. Drinking while exchanging anecdotes and recapping great throws is the other part of the game.

Shortly after 11 p.m., the GSMCC disperses into the chilly Sunday night, complaining about unpredictable ice and missed opportunities, in eager anticipation of next week’s competition.

November 18, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 47 © 2004 Metro Pulse