All About Curling: from Milan to Milwaukee with the Wauwatosa Curling Club

Originating in Scotland, the Olympics’ “coziest” sport is growing in popularity around the world and in Milwaukee where fans can play and compete in Hart Park.

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U.S. curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. It is the first silver medal for the U.S.—the men’s team won gold in the Pyeongchang—where the sport’s popularity is steadily rising. There are nearly 200 curling clubs across the country. Wisconsin is home to nearly 30 curling clubs, including the Wauwatosa Curling Club, where Milwaukeeans can watch, learn and play the sport on home ice.

“As a first timer, watching curling might be a bit confusing,” says David Trout, the club’s Media Relations Chair, who watched curling for the first during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Many may be in his shoes this month while watching the Milano-Cortino Games. Trout encourages the curious to find a club and “give it a try.”  He became a Wauwatosa Curling Club member in 2008 and “[hasn’t] looked back.”

While curling is certainly growing in popularity, it has a long history (and presence in Milwaukee).

From Scotland to Milwaukee

Curling originated in Scotland in the early 16th century where it was first played on frozen lochs in winter. Roughly 300 years later, Scottish immigrants brought the sport to Milwaukee in the 1840s. The Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers combined with Wisconsin’s subzero winter temperatures provided ample ice to play recreationally and competitively.

Today, curling is largely played indoors. The Wauwatosa Curling Club was founded in 1921 (pre-dating the first Winter Olympics by three years). The club has called Hart Park home for a century. Club president Katie Moorhead says the sport’s inclusion in the Olympics—Nagano in 1998—has greatly impacted the sport’s growth locally.

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“My family had curled for many years pre-Olympics; and the club membership had grown significantly when I re-joined as an adult in 2017,” says Moorhead. “I don’t have to explain the basics of curling anymore.”

The basics (and physics) of a bonspiel

Like many sports, curling has its own vocabulary that can make gameplay confusing for first time viewers and players. Here are the curling terms to know:

  • Bonspiel – A game or match of curling
  • End – A round in a bonspiel (think baseball inning)
  • Sheet – The strip of ice on which curling is played
  • The House – The large circular scoring area
  • Button – The one-foot circle at the center of the house
  • Tee– The exact center of the button and the ultimate target
  • Hog line – The line by which point a player must release a stone when throwing
  • Back line – The line marking the rear edge of the house, stones which completely cross are removed from play
  • Stone – the large, circular stone with handles players throw (and sweep) towards the house. Each stone weighs between 38 and 42 pounds
  • Delivery – the throw and release of the stone
  • Curl – The trajectory of the stone when thrown

Curling is a game of momentum, inertia and friction. When players throw stones towards the house, their forward momentum is transferred to the stone on release, carrying it towards the house. The stone’s curving—curling—trajectory is determined by the direction the thrower rotates the stone as they release it.

Curling ice is rough, unlike the smooth ice of a skating or hockey rink. Before a bonspiel, the ice is sprayed and shaved to create “pebbles” on the surface. This is where inertia and friction come into gameplay. The friction between the ice and stone impacts its inertia and trajectory.

The pebbled surface reduces the stone’s amount of contact with the ice, allowing the stone to glide over the ice by reducing the amount of friction (compared to smooth ice). When players sweep their brooms across the ice, the friction produced by the rapid movement produces enough heat to melt the pebbles on the ice, creating a thin layer of water between the ice and the stone which further reduces the friction between the ice and the stone. Precise sweeping is used to guide the trajectory of the stone to the button and/or to strategically knock the opposing team’s stones further from the button.

As the bonspiel continues, the surface of the ice is continuously changing from play, affecting game strategy. Curling is often compared to chess for this reason.

Learn on the ice with Wauwatosa Curling Club

For those ready to try curling, the Wauwatosa Curling Club in Hart Park offers four sheets of ice for members of all ages and abilities to learn, play, compete and socialize during the season which runs from mid-October through March.

The club hosts “Try Curling” sessions for non-members to learn throughout the season which are open to those 13 and older. Minors must have parental permission. Sessions cover gameplay and end with “broomstacking,” a post-bonspiel tradition where opposing teams socialize together. Visit the club’s website to sign up for one of the upcoming sessions on March 14.

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Learn even more as a member. Wauwatosa Curling Club has a “5 and Under” format for adults with less than five years of experience, and junior curling sessions (for ages 10-18) will likely return this coming fall after a two-year hiatus. Moorhead invites anyone interest to try a session or become a member. “[Curling is] a sport for all ages and ability; we have a strong level of senior membership and offer adaptive curling opportunities, where we can accommodate individuals with varying levels of physical abilities,” she says.

Flooding in August delayed the club’s opening for this season. While the ice house reopened with only a bit of delay this season, the basement club room—which contained a locker space, gathering area, full bar and kitchen—was completely lost along with some equipment and club memorabilia. The club is fundraising and planning to rebuild.

For those not ready for the ice, but also thirsting for more, public viewing at Hart Park is also permitted. There is still more to come in Italy. The Paralympics begin on March 6. Four Wisconsinites will be competing in wheelchair curling: Laura Dwyer, Steve Emt, Dan Rose and Matt Thums.