Curling becoming cool in Virginia

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This article was published 16/01/2020 (1553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not unheard of for our friends south of the border to pick up a broom and take a liking to curling.

After all, let’s not forget that John Shuster and his team based out of Duluth, Minn., are the reigning Olympic champions.

But when you think of American curlers, Virginia wouldn’t be one of the first states to come to mind. However, that’s where a group of rock-throwers in town for this week’s Manitoba Open are from.

‘We were at a bar watching (curling on TV) and a guy said ‘I don’t think you could do that”– Sam Sparks, on his introduction to curling

It’s not their first rodeo, though.

This is the fourth year in a row Melvin Shaw, Travis Hamilton and Sam Sparks have flown to the Manitoba capital to play in the world’s biggest curling bonspiel that spans 13 different clubs around Winnipeg. Austin Shawinsky, the team’s lead, is playing in the event for the second time.

“It’s just a lot of fun. There’s a novelty to go to all the different clubs,” said Hamilton, 38, who grew up in Glenboro, Man., and moved to Virginia 15 years ago for work.

“Obviously, it’s a completely different climate, a completely different city for all the guys. It’s kind of become an annual tradition of doing a reverse vacation. Everybody goes south, we go north.”

Having grown up in a small Manitoba town, Hamilton curled throughout middle school. But for the rest of his team, they were all introduced to the game much later.

“My wife bought me a learn-to-curl (lesson) as a Christmas present one year. I just came down to the hockey arena in Richmond and fell in love after throwing a couple of rocks,” said the 31-year-old Shawinsky, a brewmaster at Billsburg Brewery in Williamsburg.

“She saw an ad on Facebook after the Olympic cycle. Curling was going crazy in the U.S. after the Olympics, especially with Shuster. We watched all of that and I joked ‘Man, I’d really love to do that’ and she bought me a lesson.”

Shaw, the skip, was also inspired to try the game by watching the Olympics, although it was well before Shuster’s run. He said curling was on TV a lot during the 2006 Torino Olympics and it was something Shaw, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, at the time, was eager to try. Shaw, the only non-Richmond resident on the squad, as he lives two hours north in Washington, D.C., now curls out of the Potomac Curling Club in Maryland, which is less than an hour car ride away. The 40-year-old software company engineer is now hooked and has travelled far and wide for events.

“All over the states, for sure. I’ve been to Canada a few times, been to Iceland… I’d have to say I’ve been to 40 or 50 clubs at this point,” said Shaw.

Sparks, 33, has put a lot of miles on his car to get as much ice time as he can. For three years, he and Hamilton would make the two-and-a-half-hour drive up to Potomac to play in a league on Wednesday nights.

“I’d play at 9 p.m., get home at 3 a.m. and went to work at seven,” said Sparks, a data scientist who plays second.

Sparks has arguably the most humourous story behind his start in curling.

“I started in 2012 after someone bet me that I couldn’t curl, so, I went and did it,” Sparks recalled. “We were at a bar watching (on TV) and a guy said ‘I don’t think you could do that’ and I said ‘Yeah I can.’ So, I looked it up online and found a curling club.”

While Shaw has the luxury of having a real curling club nearby, the trio from Richmond have no such luck. They play out of the Curling Club of Virginia, but the name is a tad bit deceiving as it’s not technically a curling facility.

“(Richmond) is almost double the size of Winnipeg and we have two sheets of ice in the entire city,” said Hamilton, who throws third rocks and now owns a custom furniture company.

In the winter, the two sheets are dedicated to hockey and figure skating. Usually, in March or April, the curling aficionados are able to take over for the summer and they convert the rink to their preferred frozen sport. But don’t let the lack of ice fool you — the demand for curling is certainly there.

“We do learn-to-curls and we sell them out all the time. We’ll do a learn-to-curl and we’ll have 100 people show up and learn to curl on a Saturday night. Families, couples, seniors, juniors and everything in between… our biggest limitation is getting ice and quality ice.”

Shaw’s Potomac Curling Club is also having no problem recruiting people to play.

“Our club is full. Most of our members are probably in their 20s or 30s… During the Olympics when curling is on TV, we’ll advertise an open house and we’ll have lines out the door of our club,” Shaw said.

What’s the competition like down there compared to a place like Manitoba where people seem to know the difference between an in-turn and out-turn before they even take their first steps?

“If you asked that question four years ago, there would’ve been no competition,” said Sparks.

“Now, it’s taking off down there. They’re doing continuous training programs. There’s the benefit of a lot of Canadians moving down south to retire because it’s warm. Now, there is this endless wealth of knowledge that’s helping develop people.”

The five-day competition, which features 224 teams in the full bonspiel, wraps up Monday night. The Virginia team, who are rocking matching uniforms and hats supplied by Billsburg Brewery, dropped their opening game on Thursday before answering with an impressive 8-0 route over Team Henry on Friday afternoon at Fort Rouge Curling Club. The best they’ve ever done at the Manitoba Open is 3-3 and they’re hoping they can improve on that this time around, but not by too much.

“We haven’t seen a Sunday yet. We always run into a hot team on Saturday night. So, our goal this year is to actually play on Sunday and maybe win a couple,” said Hamilton.

“We can’t win too many though cause we gotta fly home. One guy flies home Sunday afternoon and the rest of us Monday morning.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31