‘Chess on ice': Curling catching on in U.S. as Snowbird remembers her days as the skip

With the Winter Olympics in full swing, the curling phenomenon continues to the delight of Snowbirds from the Great White North.

Diane Harris and her husband Don have been coming to Walton County for four years now.

"We make sure to bring our satellite dish down with us so we can watch curling," said Diane, an Ottawa, Ontario, resident. "That is the only reason that we bring the dish with us.”

But for Harris, curling isn’t just a spectator sport. She stopped competitively curling 4 years ago.

“I may have stopped playing, but I definitely haven't stopped watching," she said.

While growing up outside of Montreal, Harris' parents joined a brand new curling club that also had a junior section and that is where she threw her first "rock."

A rock is the item you see curlers sliding down the ice. The 44-pound rock is made of solid granite.

"You don’t realize how heavy it is," Harris said, "since you don’t have to pick it up."

Curling is over 500 years old, according to usacurl.org and it originated in 16th century Scotland when the Scots started sliding rocks on frozen lakes and marshes. A curling team is made up of four players, a thrower, a skip and two sweepers.

The thrower is the person who slides the rock down the ice, while the skip determines the required weight, turn and line of the throw. The skip is instrumental in the strategy of the game and often calls out orders to the two sweepers, who are guiding the path of the rock.

By those who play, Curling is referred to as "chess on ice"

"There is a large amount of strategy that goes into it," said Harris, a veteran skip. "You don’t just go out there and throw something down the ice. You would have to watch two good teams to really appreciate it. The strategy of the game and trying to out-think your opponent appeals to me. It’s all about putting a rock out in front and trying to block your opponent."

But don’t make the mistake of comparing the sport to shuffleboard.

"That is one thing that makes us (Canadians) mad," she said. "It is nothing, nothing like shuffleboard. If you had to equate it to something else it is more like lawn bowling or bocce. That is probably the closest you could come to another sport."

Harris said that while there are no professional curling leagues, it remains a competitive and popular game in Canada.

"I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many curling clubs there are," she said. "Just in the Ottawa area alone, I would guess there are probably 12 or 13 clubs."

Most curlers don’t expect to make a great living playing their sport. But in the last decade some have found a way to make bank by banging rocks.

"And that is only for the top, top level players like you see in the Olympics," she said. "I remember when I was playing competitively we used to play for toasters and electric knives."

While you may never become rich curling, you can enjoy the camaraderie and strategy that goes along with it.

"I think that is what attracts a lot of people to it," she said. "In most instances the two teams will get together afterward and go have a drink."

She added that the best part of curling was meeting her husband.

After not playing for a few years, Harris was urged by her mom to start playing again when the family moved from Montreal to Ottawa.

"I joined the curling club and met Don while playing in a mixed match," she said. "I'm really glad I got back into it."

Curling has given Harris two loves that will last her a lifetime.

She said one of the best things about curling is that you can play no matter how young or old you are.

"My team and I represented the province of Ontario in the Canadian seniors when I was 52," she said. "That was very special. I was very proud of that one."

She concluded by saying how she cannot believe how much the sport has caught on.

"Curling was one of the highest rated sports to watch on TV during the last Olympics," Harris said. "Clubs have had a huge upswing in memberships since then."