In Olympic curling, the target where stones are thrown toward is called ‘the house,’ but Cincinnati Curling Club is doing their best to create a true home for its athletes.
“It’s a recreational sport unlike any other,” said Brody White, vice president of the club’s board. “One of the great things about curling is that there are so many ways to adapt to curling [for individuals]. You can always play to the best of your abilities. It doesn’t matter how good you are. We can all be on the ice and playing to our abilities.”
It’s that openness that attracted Justin Swann, who moved to the U.S. from Australia in 2023, to join the Cincinnati Curling Club last month.
“I saw the Olympics on TV, and I always enjoy watching it,” Swann said. “But when my parents came from Australia to visit, we thought it’d be a fun sort of activity to do one of these learn to curl classes. It is something you don’t really get to do in Australia. So we took a class, and we really enjoyed it.”
Brody said this year’s Winter Olympic Games has helped the club see rapid growth.
The Cincinnati Curling Club hosts five two-hour Learn to Curl classes, which teach the essentials of curling, including ice safety, etiquette, basic skills development (delivering a stone, sweeping, etc), and scoring and strategy. Equipment is included before classmates play a game together.
“One of the best things about being an Olympic sport is that every four years we see surges in participation,” he said, adding that their classes are fully booked until early March.
In their curling club rules, there’s a mandate for the winning team to buy the losing team a drink. White said this helps create community amongst the players.
“They get to meet other people who they may not know much about other than they like curling,” he said. “This rule helps them meet new friends and create new bonds.”
Swann agreed. He and his husband have gone from taking the Learn to Curl class and enjoying the class to taking the four-week Instructional League to learn more about curling.
“Anyone who struggles to meet people should give this a try,” Swann said. “There’s no pressure here. Everybody is enjoying themselves, having a good time, playing a weird sport, and it’s fun. I think that’s the main thing: there’s no pressure. It’s just for a fun place to sport together and hang out.”