Curling facts for kids
Curling games taking place during the 2005 Tim Hortons Brier
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| Highest governing body | World Curling Federation |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Chess On Ice, The Roaring Game |
| First played | Approximately late medieval Scotland |
| Registered players | est. 1.5 million |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Team members | 4 per team (2 in doubles) |
| Mixed-sex | Yes; see mixed curling |
| Type | Precision and accuracy |
| Equipment | Curling brooms, stones (rocks), curling shoes |
| Venue | Curling sheet |
| Glossary | Glossary of curling |
| Presence | |
| Olympic |
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| Paralympic | Wheelchair curling officially added in 2006 |
Curling is a fun and strategic sport played on ice. It's a bit like bowls or shuffleboard, but on ice! In curling, two teams of four players take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones (also called rocks) across a long sheet of ice. The goal is to get your stones as close as possible to a target area called the house.
The house has four circles, like a target. Each team slides eight stones in a round, which is called an end. After all stones are thrown, the team with the stone closest to the center of the house scores points. You get one point for each of your stones that is closer to the center than your opponent's closest stone. A game usually has eight or ten ends, and the team with the most points wins!
A cool part of curling is that players can make the stone curve or curl as it slides. Two teammates can also sweep the ice in front of the stone with brooms. Sweeping helps the stone travel farther and straighter by making the ice a tiny bit smoother. Curling is a popular sport and is even played at the Winter Olympic Games.
Contents
History of Curling
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Curling has a long history, going back to the early 1500s in Scotland. People found old curling stones in Scotland with dates like 1511 carved into them! The very first written mention of a curling game was in February 1541 in Scotland.
Paintings from 1565 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder show people curling in a region called Flanders. This shows that Scotland and the Low Countries (like Belgium and the Netherlands) had strong connections back then.
The word curling first appeared in print in 1620. The sport was also known as "the roaring game." This name came from the sound the stones make as they slide over the ice. The ice surface has tiny frozen water droplets called pebble.
The Kilsyth Curling Club in Scotland says it's the oldest curling club in the world, started in 1716. The Royal Caledonian Curling Club, founded in 1838, is recognized for creating the first official rules for curling.
In the past, curling stones were just flat rocks from rivers. They didn't have handles and were all different sizes. Players had less control over the stone's path. The sport was often played on frozen rivers and lakes.
Outdoor curling was very popular in Scotland for centuries. This was because the cold winters provided good ice. Today, the World Curling Federation, which governs the sport worldwide, is based in Perth, Scotland.
Curling became very popular in Canada. Scottish people who moved there brought the sport with them. The Royal Montreal Curling Club, started in 1807, is the oldest sports club still active in North America. Curling also spread to the United States, Switzerland, and Sweden by the late 1800s. Now, people play curling all over the world, including in Brazil, Japan, Australia, and Korea.
The first world championship for men's curling was in 1959. It was called the Scotch Cup. A Canadian team from Regina, Saskatchewan won the first title. Curling was also one of the first sports that became popular with women and girls.
Curling at the Olympics
Curling has been a medal sport at the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 Winter Olympics. It now includes events for men's teams, women's teams, and mixed doubles (one man and one woman).
The International Olympic Committee decided in 2002 that the curling competition from the 1924 Winter Olympics would count as official Olympic events. So, the first Olympic medals in curling were given out for those 1924 games. Great Britain won the gold medal.
Since 1998, Canada has been very strong in Olympic curling. Their men's teams have won gold medals in 2006, 2010, and 2014. The Canadian women's team won gold in 1998 and 2014.
Equipment for Curling
The Curling Sheet
The playing area is called a curling sheet. It's a long, flat rectangle of ice, about 146 to 150 feet long and 14.5 to 16.5 feet wide.
- The house is the target area. It's a set of circles painted on the ice. The very center is called the button.
- Hog lines are lines drawn across the ice. Stones must be released before the first hog line and must cross the far hog line to stay in play.
- The hacks are like starting blocks. Players push off from them to slide the stone.
The ice surface is very important. It's kept at a temperature of about 23°F (minus 5°C). Before a game, tiny water droplets are sprayed onto the ice. These freeze into small bumps called pebble. The pebble helps the stone slide farther and allows it to curl or curve.
Curling Stone
The curling stone, or rock, is made of special granite. It weighs between 38 and 44 pounds (about 17 to 20 kg). The bottom of the stone is shaped so only a small ring touches the ice. This design helps the stone slide and curl.
The granite for curling stones comes from two places: Ailsa Craig, an island off Scotland, and the Trefor Granite Quarry in Wales. The granite from Ailsa Craig is especially good because it doesn't absorb much water. This stops the stone from breaking down over time.
Kays of Scotland has been making curling stones since 1851. They have special rights to use the granite from Ailsa Craig. They have made stones for the Winter Olympics since 1924.
A handle is attached to the top of the stone. Players use the handle to grip the stone and give it a slight spin when they release it. This spin is what makes the stone curl. Handles are usually colored red or yellow to show which team they belong to.
Some modern stones have an electronic handle called the Eye on the Hog. This device checks if the player releases the stone before the hog line. If not, red lights flash, and the stone is removed from play. This helps make sure rules are followed fairly.
Curling Broom
The curling broom, or brush, is used to sweep the ice in front of the stone. It also helps players keep their balance when sliding.
In the past, brooms were made of corn strands, like household brooms. But in the 1960s, artificial brushes became popular. These brushes are lighter and more effective. Today, almost all curlers use brushes made of fiberglass or carbon fiber.
In 2014, new "directional fabric" brooms caused a bit of a stir. Some players felt they made the game too easy. Because of this, the World Curling Federation now only approves one type of brush head for competitive games.
Curling Shoes
Curling shoes are special athletic shoes. One shoe, called the slider, has a slippery sole, usually made of Teflon. This shoe is for the foot that slides on the ice. The other shoe, the gripper, has a normal rubbery sole to help the player push off from the hack.
When a player isn't sliding, they can put a slip-on gripper over their slider shoe to stop it from being slippery.
Other Equipment
- Curling pants: These are stretchy to allow for the movements needed to deliver the stone.
- Stopwatch: Used to time stones and estimate how far they will travel.
- Gloves or mittens: To keep hands warm and improve grip on the broom.
How to Play Curling
The main goal is to score points by getting your stones closer to the center of the house than your opponent's stones. Players from each team take turns throwing stones. An end is finished when all 16 stones (8 from each team) have been thrown. If the score is tied after all ends, extra ends are played until a winner is found.
Most international games have ten ends. Many recreational games have eight ends.
Delivering the Stone
The process of sliding a stone is called the delivery or throw. Usually, the team captain, called the skip, stands at the far end of the ice. The skip tells the thrower where to aim and how much speed and spin to put on the stone.
- Weight: This is the speed of the stone. It depends on how hard the thrower pushes off from the hack.
- Turn: This is the spin given to the stone, which makes it curve.
- Line: This is the direction the stone is thrown.
Before throwing, the player wipes the bottom of the stone clean. They also sweep the path on the ice if needed. This is because any dirt can change the stone's path.
The thrower starts from the hack. They push off with their gripper shoe and slide forward on their slider shoe. They push the stone ahead of them. As they release the stone, they give it a slight twist to make it spin. This spin makes the stone curl or curve.
The stone must be released before it crosses the first hog line. If it's released too late, it's called a hog line violation, and the stone is removed. The stone must also cross the far hog line, or it's removed from play.
Sweeping the Ice
After the stone is thrown, two sweepers from the throwing team run in front of it. They sweep the ice with their brooms. Sweeping does two main things:
- It makes the stone travel farther.
- It makes the stone travel straighter (less curl).
Sweeping works by slightly melting the ice, which reduces friction. The skip tells the sweepers when and how hard to sweep. Sweepers also tell the skip how fast the stone is going.
Sweeping is allowed anywhere on the ice until the stone crosses the tee line. After that, only one player from the throwing team can sweep. If a stone is behind the tee line, one player from the other team can sweep it. This is the only time an opponent can sweep your stone.
Burning a Stone
Sometimes, a player accidentally touches a stone with their broom or body. This is called burning a stone. Players are expected to call this on themselves, as it's part of good sportsmanship. If a stone is burned while it's moving, the other team's skip decides what happens. Often, the touched stone is removed from play.
Types of Shots
Curling has many different shots, each with a purpose:
- Guards: These stones are thrown in front of the house to protect other stones or make it hard for the opponent.
- Draws: These shots are aimed to land inside the house.
- Takeouts: These shots are meant to hit and remove opponent's stones from play.
Free Guard Zone
The free guard zone is an area on the ice where certain rules apply. It's between the hog line and the tee line, but not inside the house.
A special rule, called the five-rock rule, says that the first five stones played in an end cannot be removed from the free guard zone by an opponent's stone. If an opponent knocks a stone out of this zone, it's put back, and the opponent's stone is removed.
This rule was added to make the game more exciting. Before this rule, teams would often just knock out all the opponent's stones, which made for boring games. The five-rock rule encourages more stones to stay in play, leading to more interesting strategies.
The Hammer
The last stone thrown in an end is called the hammer. Having the hammer is a big advantage because you get the final shot. Teams usually try to score two or more points when they have the hammer.
The team that doesn't score in an end gets the hammer in the next end. If no one scores (a blanked end), the team with the hammer keeps it for the next end. Scoring points without the hammer is called stealing a point, and it's much harder to do.
How Scoring Works
At the end of each round (end), the team with the stone closest to the center of the house wins that end. That team then gets one point for every one of their stones that is closer to the center than the opponent's closest stone.
Only stones that are in the house count for scoring. A stone is in the house if any part of it touches the 12-foot circle. Even if it just barely touches the edge, it counts! This is called a biter.
Sometimes it's hard to tell which stone is closer. Special measuring tools are used after the end to figure it out.
There are two main types of scoreboards:
- Baseball-style scoreboard: This is often seen on TV. It shows the score for each end and the total score.
- Club scoreboard: This is the traditional one used in most curling clubs. It uses numbers to show the cumulative score for each team.
The highest score you can get in one end is eight points. This is called an "eight-ender" or "snowman." It's very rare and difficult to achieve, like pitching a perfect game in baseball!
Curling Culture
Competitive curling teams are usually named after their skip (captain), like "Team Martin."
While many top championships have all-male or all-female teams, mixed curling is also popular. In mixed curling, a team has two men and two women. The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship started in 2008, and mixed doubles became an Olympic event in 2018.
Curling is played in many countries, including Canada, Scotland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan. These countries often compete in world championships.
Curling is especially popular in Canada. Many Canadians watch curling on TV, especially the national championships like the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (for women) and the Montana's Brier (for men).
The Canadian province of Saskatchewan has curling as its official provincial sport. Famous curlers like Ernie Richardson and Sandra Schmirler (who won the first Olympic gold medal in women's curling in 1998) come from Saskatchewan.
Images for kids
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Team China at World Wheelchair Curling Championship in February 2009
See also
In Spanish: Curling para niños
