The Barrhead Curling Club is growing and always looking for new members, says men’s league organizer Grant Balen.
“It’s a great social sport,” he said, adding it is not just a senior’s game.
“I played hockey throughout my youth and it’s interesting to me to see the wide range of ages of serious curlers verses hockey players. We have really vibrant clubs here in Barrhead, especially the senior’s leagues and that’s the nice thing about this community.”
Not too many people over the age of 40 play hockey, Balen said.
“Everyone can play curling however. You can go from a really young age to well into your latter years. It is always fun to go upstairs [at the rink] afterwards and talk to the team you just played, having a beer or a pop or whatever you like.”
He said that is the major difference between hockey and curling players.
“With hockey, half the time there is bad blood between the teams and while you talk to your teammates, there’s hardly ever conversation with the other guys aside from the shenanigans that occur.”
With curling, Balen said there is no such division.
“I always thought hockey teams ought to be split up and have half of their players sharing their opponent’s dressing room,” he added.
Curling season officially began Nov. 1.
“We have men’s league on Mondays, women’s league on Tuesdays, senior’s league on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, little rocks on Thursdays and our mix league on Friday nights,” he said. “Our junior curling program, run by Don Cramer, is really well put together and has been going on for quite some time now and we have a really vibrant senior’s club too.”
Balen said the club hosts four bonspiels per season.
“Our first of the season, the junior’s, will run Dec. 17 and 18 this year,” he said, adding it is relatively new.
“It was started last year and we had pretty good results, a lot of teams. Rod Phillips was the guy who organized it and this year it is Krista Measures and we are hoping this becomes an annual event.”
Balen said there are currently 15 men’s teams, 13 women’s teams, and 10 mix-league teams.
“If someone is interested in joining the club or a team, come on down to the rink and put your name on our sublist,” he said, adding it is one of the easiest ways to get involved in the club.
“Our club manager, Stephanie Brost, will find a place for you. It can be hard to find enough people for a team on your own and sometimes existing teams having missing players, so you never know. Our sub-list is often heavily used and our fees haven’t changed.”
For more information, call 780-674-2944.
