Women’s Curling at the Almonte Curling Club
For women, curling can feel very familiar. Using laser sharp focus to coax stubborn objects, guiding them toward a large target located some distance away. Gently talking and sometimes admonishing, knowing that the direction has been set in motion, but still hoping to influence the outcome in some small way.
But it is only a rock. They don’t talk back and they will be put back in the corner until next Monday.
Monday mornings have been much livelier at the Almonte Curling Club this year as a new women’s curling league has taken to the ice. As a pick up league, we show up, teams are formed and we curl. If your schedule doesn’t allow, no worries.
As a sport that smooths the way for objects to negotiate around obstacles, the women in the Monday morning league worked to ensure that if someone wanted to play, it would happen. There were beginner clinics at an open house the previous year. As the season began, experienced curlers volunteered their time to show the newcomers the basics- not to overwhelm, but enough to get started enjoying the sport. And there is more that one way to deliver the rock. If we had been practicing our yoga and Pilates, the Rachel Holman slide can be within our reach. But we learned that other ways of delivering the rock could be just as effective. Even the slide delivery can take many forms. If we were nervous about balancing on one foot on an icy surface, we could plant our feet firmly using gripping covers over our slippery shoes while pushing the rock to the button using a specially designed stick. All good. The object is to play. As the season went on a combination of learning by doing and explanations by more experienced curlers helped us to understand the game.
We learned the language of curling- the hack, the hog line, the house and most importantly bonspiel. The women’s bonspiel! There is no experience quite like a bonspiel and a women’s bonspiel sits in a category of its own. A combination of steely competition, wine, whine, and perhaps just a little naughtiness made for a day we wouldn’t soon forget. I know one husband who will think twice before volunteering to drop off a forgotten item again. Lots of laughs with women who were quickly becoming our friends.
Anyone who knows anything about curling knows that it is more than the game. Some would say it is an excuse. An excuse to meet with friends and socialize. Coffee or tea fuels the game and then provides the glue that keeps us talking long after the game is done. The “sorry jar” was instituted after the amount of apologizing just got out of hand. A quarter for every time we said sorry for a shot not made. It looks like we are going to have a rather nice luncheon out on the proceeds at end of the year. There has been a suggestion that we might need a swear jar, but usually the word slips out beneath our breath and most of us deny, deny, deny.
Once a month, there is a Monday Fun Day. Women sign up to organize lunch and some kind of entertainment. Our last fun day included delicious homemade soup and sandwiches followed by a game of right, left and center. Howls accompanied the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Of course, nothing happens on its own. We have Caren Denault and Jane Sorfleet to thank for organizing the open house, the clinics, the coffee, the reminder emails, the scheduling and a thousand other details. Carolyn Mountenay organizes the yearly women’s bonspiel that attracts not only Almonte teams, but teams from all around the area.
If you think you might be interested to getting involved in a sport that makes winter so much better, we have an Open House scheduled for Sunday, March 6th from 1-3 to introduce a new Learn 2 Curl program. Please register by sending an email to ACC.learn2curl@rogers.com.
If you’d like more information about the Monday Morning Ladies League, please call Caren Denault at (613) 461-3821.
