Curling is one of those sports that creates conversation. Mention curling to those who have not participated, and you will often hear remarks like, “I really don’t understand curling,” or “it doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Those who have picked up the broom and slid the curling rock down the ice toward a target some 150 feet away might counter with, “It’s great fun!” or “I look forward to our curling night.”
Once again, the 5th FSS will be organizing a Minot Air Force Base curling league to take place on Tuesday nights. “We start on Jan. 4 with a learn-to-curl evening,” according to Lt. Col. Eric Lopez. That night will be the first of many learning steps for Lopez and for many other participants. “I am a transplant from the south, and I just really want to learn how to curl,” Lopez said.
Minot is fortunate to have a heritage of curling, with the Minot Curling Club being the host facility for curling in this area. “We are very fortunate to have the Minot Curling Club to host our league on Tuesday nights. We would really like to have at least 10 teams, and we can certainly accommodate more.”
The process to sign up a team is quite simple:
First, you need to recruit at least four members for your team. “Four is minimum, and a few more would be preferred to make sure each team has enough members,” according to Lopez. They can be men or women, since the league is a completely mixed league, meaning that it can be any mixture of men and women.
Second, once you have your members, sign your team up at the Fitness center, or online at 5.fss.fitness@us.af.mil. There is no fee to sign up a team for the league, just a weekly fee of $10.00 per curling member per team.
Last, mark your calendar for Jan. 4, since that will be the learn-to-curl night for the MAFB league at the Minot Curling Club, located just west of the grandstand on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds.
“You don’t need any equipment. The MCC will have that for those who need it. Just show up in warm clothes, and have a lot of fun,” added Lopez.
The league is 10 weeks in length, and a league champion will be crowned at the end of the 10-week season.
An experienced curler will tell you that once you get started, curling gets into your blood, and soon you will have a corner of your garage occupied by curling brooms, ready to take to the ice.
