When did you begin curling and why did you start?
[I started in] 2011. I grew up in Michigan, which is right next to Canada, and Canada has a lot of curling. I could pick up Canadian channels, and on Saturdays I watched the curling television show.What is your position when you play?
When you first start off, you’re always the first thrower since that’s the least important of the positions. After playing for a few years, I was able to move up to the second or third player, depending on what team I was on.
Do you curl for fun, competitively or both?
I used to do it for both since there are fun leagues where you can still go to tournaments, but now I do it more for fun since I’m a little old for that at this point.
How has curling impacted your life?
Going to the [Salt Lake City and Vancouver] Olympics to watch curling with my wife has helped grow our love for the sport.
What was your biggest challenge with the sport?
People make curling look easy, but it actually is not. It is hard to learn how to throw [the stone], and trying it for the first time it is especially hard to not fall over because the ice is slippery. To fix this, we wear shoes called sliders to help with the push.
Tell me more about curling
Each curling team has four people in it, so for each game, each person throws two stones. It depends on the team, you could be the first person, second person, or what they call skip. The skip is in charge, and they make the decisions on where you want you to throw and what they want to hit.
Any advice to give athletes who want to begin curling?
I’d check out the Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Maryland since that’s the only club in our area. They have six hockey rinks and one curling. It would be nice to have one over here because of traffic.
