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USA Curling National Championship Day

Jason — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:27:38 +0000

The day has finally come… it is the end of our tournament here in Kalamazoo… and time to send two teams off to the world championships The women will head off to Swift Current, SK, Canada; The men will head off to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

It’s been a fantastic week, and we can’t express enough enthusiasm and appreciation at the VOLUNTEER officials who came from all over the country… the VOLUNTEER ice crew that came from far and near… all the other VOLUNTEERS who made this event possible… and, of course, to all the fantastic, fun, good-spirited athletes that were at the center of this all… We have truly enjoyed hosting you this week, and look forward to seeing you again… on the ice! Thank you! Great curling!

With that, we offer you the final edition of The Early Draw, and a link to the live web stream of the final matches: ladies at 10 AM EST, and men at 3 PM EST.

Kalamazoo Curlers in the Gazette

Jason — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:29:40 +0000

As the 2010 US Curling National Championships get closer and closer (less than a week away!!), we’re finding just a little more attention from the outside world. There is an article in today’s Kalamazoo Gazette which talks about how it came to be that the Nationals found a 2010 home in Kalamazoo.

Kalamazoo Curling Club on the Nonchalant Café

Jason — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:58:44 +0000

Tune in to 89.1 FM TODAY during the noon hour for a conversation with the vice president (“vice skip,” as we like to say around here) regarding the Kalamazoo Curling Club, the 2010 Curling Nationals, the Olympics and all things curling. If you miss it, just check back later on the Nonchalant Café Hour’s web site, where you’ll more than likely be able to hear it again at your leisure.

We’re Moving to the Cube!

Jason — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:46:38 +0000

Well, we’re painting the ice in the Cube, one of the rinks at the Wings Stadium complex. Open curling will take place there on Monday, and our Winter 2010 league will start there on Friday. We’re hoping to have some improved ice conditions there, as opposed to the Annex. MANY, MANY thanks to the folks at Wings Stadium for bending over backwards to accommodate this change… and many, many hopes that this makes curling in Kalamazoo that much more of an enjoyable activity for MANY, MANY more people over the next few weeks. We can’t wait to share this with you all…

Fall 2009 League Champions

Jason — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:04:57 +0000

Our Fall 2009 bonspiel concluded on November 13 (a FRIDAY!), with Team Hall winning the championship game over the Elliott rink. Team Hall was skipped by Tom Leach, with vice skip Rick Thomas, Jason Hall at second, and Jeff Switzer throwing lead. Hall’s 3-0 lead after three ends was maintained through the 4th, which went blank. In the final end, Team Elliott managed to put three stones into a well-guarded house. Tom Leach managed to take out one of Elliott’s stones, leaving Kevin Artis with a difficult attempt to put the hammer stone in for the tying point. Team Hall squeaked out the win, 3-2.

The Fall 2009 league will conclude with a fun (if not unique) night of curling on December 11. The Winter 2010 curling season will begin in February. Look for sign-up information soon.

Kalamazoo Curling Club — Fall 2009 League

Jason — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:29:53 +0000

THE FORMAT
We have 12 teams so we set up two six team divisions. We will be running this as a five week round robin within each division with week 6 and 7 being league playoffs. The eighth week will be used for curling and a party (details on that to come). The reason we are treating this last week differently is, there is a scheduling problem with ice. Even though we scheduled the ice months ago we just can’t get eight sequential Fridays. See the schedule below and note the gap between week 7 and 8. We’re sorry about this, it is unavoidable.

SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER
• Games start promptly at 6pm and 8pm. Be courteous and be there ready to curl. Early games must start on time. If you haven’t paid yet get there extra early, so we can get that taken care of well before game time.
• Games are 7 ends.
• No end starts after 7:45 for the first draw and 9:45 the second draw. If you didn’t get all 7 ends in you have to go with the score you have. Hence the prompt start.
• THE BEST WAY TO GET ALL ENDS IN – When it’s your turn to throw, start walking down there and get in the hack as soon as your opponent has thrown his or her rock. That doesn’t mean after it stops, it means right after the rock crosses the hog line.

ETIQUETTE
• When the other team is throwing their rocks, stand between the hog lines and off to the side so they can see the other end and are not distracted.
• Skips, when your team is not throwing you may stand directly behind the opposing skip if you like, to see what their rock does, but keep your broom off the ice so the person throwing doesn’t see two targets.
• Every game starts and ends with a handshake.
• The third (or Vice) from each team does the coin toss before the game and will decide the score at the end of each end. If measuring is required, the thirds do that as well.
• If you are wearing street shoes to curl in, carry them in instead of wearing them. That will cut down on the grit on the ice.
• You are on the honor system, if you burn a rock just take it off the sheet. Don’t wait for the other team to call yo on it — that’s part of the spirit of the game.

SET UP
• Each team will be responsible for setting up at least once. If you don’t know how to set up don’t worry, you will be grouped with people who do.
• Be there ready to set up at 5:30.
• Skips are responsible for making arrangements if they will not be there to set up.

Click here to download the Fall 2009 schedule [PDF Format]

Club News for August 25

Jason — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:32:01 +0000

Updates to the current web site have been hard to come by during the summer months, but a new season is just around the corner – and so is a new web site. The Fall League will begin on Friday, October 2., look for membership information and league information coming soon. Open curling continues on Monday nights at 8:30 in the meantime…

The 2009-2010 season is going to be very exciting for the Kalamazoo Curling Club!

Joe Polo, 2006 Olympic Medalist visits the Kalamazoo Curling Club

Jason — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:43:35 +0000

Joe Polo from the 2006 US Olympic curling team will be joining us to walk in the Doo-Dah parade and help teach at our open house on Saturday, June 6, 2009. Come out, meet Joe, learn a few things about top level curling and be a part of the biggest sports movement in Kalamazoo history. How many times do you get to play with and learn from an Olympic medal winner?

Quite a turnout for the Kalamazoo Curling Club open house

Eric — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:58:32 +0000

Thanks to all that came out to the Learn to Curl Open house (about 200 in all). Especially those who fought Friday night’s snow storm. We hope all enjoyed their exposure to the great sport of curling. I know I didn’t hear a discouraging word. We apologize to all who didn’t get to participate, and to any who called or emailed to register and didn’t get a response. The person receiving phone calls and emails for this event was in the hospital having a baby. It won’t happen again. Well, at least not for another nine months.

People are asking when they can come back. We will answer that question as soon as we can. This event surely demonstrated that there is a demand for curling in the greater Kalamazoo area. We plan to have another Learn to Curl event, open curling throughout the Summer and a Fall league. We’ll get that scheduled soon. Please check back on this website now and then to stay information.

Or better yet, get on our e-mail list, and we’ll email you when we have some news. We’ve had some requests for T-shirt sales on the website. We’re working on that one too.

Thanks for all the great comments and positive feedback. The Kalamazoo Curling Club is off to a great start.

Good Curling.