It’s kind of like bowling, but more physical. It’s kind of like chess, but more tactical.’ It’s the newest club sport at Fairfield: curling.

Fairfield’s curling program began this semester under the direction of senior Eric Boehm.

Boehm, who tried curling as a sophomore at an open house at the Nutmeg Curling Club in Bridgeport, said that he got hooked on the game and has been trying to start a club at Fairfield ever since.

After two years of delay due to study abroad and other commitments, Boehm has finally achieved his goal.

‘It’s (going to) happen,’ said Boehm.

Boehm said that he had an unexpectedly large response when he set up a table in the lower level of the Barone Campus Center.

At a meeting a few weeks later, 16 students turned out for more information, and the program has continued to grow from there.

‘We’re just trying to get as many people as possible over to the club to practice and see if they want to stay,’ said Boehm, noting that one group of five has already been over to try the game out.

Once a final group is chosen, the team will join the college league at Nutmeg Curling Club, which currently only consists of Yale.

Right now, Boehm and Duncan MacKenzie ’11 are the only players with any experience, giving the team a total of around 3 months and 4 hours.’ Still, Boehm said that he knew before he started that they were not going to have that much experience on the team.

According to MacKenzie, who threw second when he curled at home in Seattle, ‘you can pick up the sport in about one hour.’

‘It’s easy to pick up and fun to play,’ said MacKenzie.

Boehm agreed, but added that while the basics are easy, becoming a master takes a lot of practice.

‘It’s a lot more than throwing a rock at a bullseye,’ said Boehm.’ ‘It is such a strategic game, and seventy-five percent of the game is before you throw [the stones].’

The Art of Curling:

The goal of curling is to have more of your team’s rocks close to the bullseye at the end of the lane than the other team has.

A game of curling starts when team A’s lead player throws the first two stones, followed by team B’s lead player.’ Next come the seconds, the thirds, and finally the fourths, or the ‘skips.’

Each player throws two stones, and whoever is not throwing can be a sweeper for that thrower.’ The lead is typically the most accurate and consistent thrower, the second is good at knocking away the other team’s stones, the third is the assistant skip and the skip is the captain, who decides on the team’s strategy (where and how to throw the stones).

The player who is throwing will place one of his/her feet on the hack (a rubber-lined hole) and push off across the ice, letting go of the stone before the hogline (the boundary line).’

The two sweepers will slide across the ice alongside the stone, using a curling broom to rub the ice.

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