The “rock,” as it is referred to, is a 42-pound hollowed out mass of granite that comes from a specific quarry in Scotland.

The rock, or stone, is slowly pushed down a layer of ice with brooms in a game called curling. Sound like fun? “I was introduced to it by a fellow who had curled for a long time,” said Michael Nelson, who does public relations for the Bowling Green Curling Club. “He was putting a team together and we started talking. Before I knew it, I was signed up in a league.

“I’m in my 60s and I started playing in my late 50s, and it’s something you can do for a long time. It’s a very social game,” Nelson said. “The tradition is, the winners buy the losers a round of drinks. It may be a beer, it may be a soda. You can sit around and talk about the game and socialize, and it’s a good way to make friends and be with friends. It’s a fun thing.”

The Bowling Green Curling Club (BGCC) is the only curling club in Northwest Ohio. Several times each year, the 100-plus member club invites the public to come to the Bowling Green Ice Arena and give curling a try.

That includes men and women and boys and girls of all ages.

“We start at (age) 5, and that group is a weekend group,” Nelson said. “We split the season so one half goes on Saturday and one half on Sunday. Most of the youth curlers are probably 10-15.

“The adults, we have one girl who was probably 14 and one young man who started two or three years ago and he’s a junior at Perrysburg High School. We have a lady who is 81. I actually met a lady whose grandfather who was still curling at 92.”

Curling is a family sport, Nelson said, and the BGCC emphasizes sportsmanship.

“Every game starts with a handshake,” he said. “You wish your opponents good curling. It’s four against four.” Nelson said the Canadian Curling Association has about one million members, adding that there are approximately 15,000 curlers in the U.S. There are about five curling clubs in Ohio, including one in Columbus and two near Cleveland.

“Curling became an Olympic sport six years ago and had about 20-30 hours of (TV coverage) in the last Winter Olympics,” Nelson said. “ABC just did a program last spring where they played in Times Square. In Canada, many communities have their own ice. It’s a community sport; it’s easy to learn and it’s hard to be good. 

“It’s like golf, like a finesse game. You don’t have to be strong to play it. We have wheelchair curlers,” he said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the BGCC. The club even has its own Web site - www.aroundbg.com/sites/curling.

From Oct. 15-18, the BGCC invites the public to give curling a try from 7 to 9 p.m. at the ice arena, located at Mercer Road, north of East Wooster Street in BG.

The cost is $10 per person. Children are also invited as long as they are accompanied by an adult. Club members will be on hand to give basic instruction followed by a short game. Everyone should dress for 40-degree weather and bring clean athletic shoes. The BGCC’s season begins Sunday, Oct. 19 and runs through March. The leagues include a Sunday afternoon league, a Monday night men’s league and Wednesday and Thursday open leagues.

The BGCC will host a seven-week fall instructional league where curlers can work on basic curling skills plus play a game each week. The instructional league begins Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. with a fee of $70 per person.

The BGCC also supports a youth curling league for ages 5-18.

For more information call Michael Nelson at 419-262-1143.

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