Tulsa Curling Club Hosts 'Learn To Curl' Event At Oilers Ice Center

If you love the Winter Olympics, there's a chance to try out one sport in Tulsa.

The Tulsa Curling Club is teaching people how to curl at the Oilers Ice Center.

Veteran players are teaching people how to play the Olympic sport, even if they don’t have experience.

"It's the sport that everybody watches every four years in the Winter Olympics,” said Eric Vardeman, Tulsa Curling Club Founder.

Vardeman says he loved curling in the Olympics and wanted to do it too. 10 years ago, he started the club.

He says 90% of the members had never played before.

Each new member takes a five-week training class.

"There's a lot more fitness involved than you would think. So, it takes balance, some core strength, and a lot of patience. It's not as easy as it looks when you first get on the ice,” Vardeman said.

Step one is putting your foot on a slider. One hand keeps your balance, the other holds the 42-pound stone.

One foot is on the hack, which with a push, propels you forward. The one with the slider goes in front in a lunge position.

The goal is for the stone to get to the house about 150 feet across the rink. Teammates sweep alongside the stone to move it further.

Vardeman loves the sport, but he says his favorite part of the curling club is the people who play.

"For me right now, it's the people that are in the club that I have friendships with, relationships with and just seeing people out here playing a sport that five years ago they didn't have any idea they were going to be playing,” he said.

The Learn to Curl event is 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Oilers Ice Center. It’s $5 to learn and free to watch.