You may have seen curling in the Winter Olympics; well there is actually a curling club right here in Northwest Arkansas. Every Sunday from 3pm-5pm the Jones Center Ice rink is taken over by the Northwest Arkansas Curling Club.
“We have a sheet of curlers who are veterans and experienced curlers,” said Curling Club Director Mark Curtis. “Then we have a sheet where we teach.”
The club is open to anyone. If you have never curled before they offer an introductory lesson at the beginning of each practice in order to teach the basic skills and rules.
Curling is an extremely mental and strategic sport, but what most people don’t know is it’s a very physical. The sweeping aspect alone is an arm work out. If you complete a full game of eight lengths you actually walk 2 miles.
“It’s a real upper body workout especially sweeping the whole length of the ice,” said University of Arkansas Student Sevelta Mackey. “You really don’t think about it but it is”
“You have to get out there and do it for a full game your exhausted and you have sore muscles,” said Russellville Resident Bruce Futterer. “It’s a very physical game.”
If you would like to learn more about the sport of curling you can visit www.curlingrocks.net.