Midland Curling Club a breeding ground for the sport
MIDLAND -- It's a sport which originated in medieval Scotland back in the 16th century, but curling has only been an official Olympic sport since 1998.
Its televised competitions during the Olympics often draw plenty of intrigue and interest, but also leads to misconceptions from those who view it.
"They think it's foolish, or there's nothing to it," said Midland resident Craig Murchison. "When the fact (is), that would be like saying there's nothing to chess...it's really chess on ice."
"I think the biggest misconception is the sweeping," added Scott Schatzley, an instructor at the Midland Curling Club. "Most people view that as not really doing a lot for the game. And we work with them and explain to them how much sweeping is important to the game, and how much farther you can move a rock down the ice by sweeping it."
But before you can implement any strategy or sweeping, you have to learn the basic mechanics of releasing a stone down the ice. For some, it comes naturally. For others, well...let's just say that practice makes perfect.
"Getting down in that hack is not an easy thing," said Judyth Peterson, who spoke after her second curling session. "But once you get the feel for that...you get your balance and I think after a few tries, it'll be something that we can actually compete with."
The sport of curling obviously differs from many of its mainstream counterparts, requiring more precision than power, more finesse than force. And another obvious difference you'll find is in the longevity of the sport's participants.
"I came to Midland...to have my first job, about 1970," began Murchison. "And it wasn't long after, friends of mine asked me to come out to the curling club. Played a few games, there was a lot of camraderie and so on. And I said well gee, I could enjoy this! And I've been playing ever since."
In part two of our feature, we'll learn how curling matches are scored, and meet members of a local team who accomplished something even more rare than a hole-in-one in golf.
