New Beginners League For Curling Held In Tulsa

The opening of the WeStreet Ice Center in Tulsa is leading to the growth of curling.

The Tulsa Curling Club is encouraging people to sign up for its new Instructional League beginning on April 1st. It is geared toward beginners and teaches the basics of gameplay, rules, and etiquette.

Curling matches are played with eight stones and in teams of four. When asked to describe the sport Tulsa Curling Club Founder & President Eric Vardeman said that they tend to liken it to shuffleboard on ice.

"The person that leads the team is called a Skip and that is the person that stands down on the other end, calls all the shots, calls all the plays, and tells you when to sweep," Vardeman said. "Then there are three other players on the team who take turns throwing stones and sweeping."

He started the club 14 years ago, but it was not until the 2018 Winter Olympics that the sport really took off locally.

"My husband and I were staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. watching the Olympics when the United States men took gold, and we were like oh my gosh this is insanity," Tulsa Curling Club member Rebekah Sammons.

She said the next day they found an event Tulsa Curling Club was putting on called Learn to Curl.

"We came out here, there were over 300 people here, and I maybe threw 2 or 3 stones and I am out on the ice like Super Man and I knew that we were addicted," added Sammons.

The sport is more of a strategic game and there are not a lot of limitations on who can play. "It is really open to just about anybody and that is the beauty of the sport," said Vardeman.

When Sammons joined the club six years ago, there were not a lot of women, but she said now that is changing.

"They are showing more women's curling than they ever have before, and we can do this with the guys," she said.

The new ice center opened at 4143 S Yale Ave. last month and is already bringing new possibilities for the club's growth.

"We have almost twice the amount of space that we did at the old ice center," Vardeman continued saying, "So, we can put so many more people on the ice."

Spots are still open for the Instructional League. It is a five-week series from 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday nights.

CLICK HERE for information on registering for classes.