Kansas Citians break the ice at ‘Learn to Curl’

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (KCTV) — It’s a rare, slow weekend for the Kansas City sports scene — but not everyone is staying sidelined.

With the Chiefs likely won’t see Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce take the field for another three weeks. High school sports are on pause for winter break, and college hoops pick up over the next few days.

In the meantime, dozens of people hit the ice at the Kansas City Curling Club on Saturday, each with a different reason.

“This is my wife’s Christmas present to me,” Paul Woody said.

“I think it’s a good way to build flexibility and balance and strength,” Mary Keeling said.

The one thing they all have in common?

“This is my first time,” Woody said.

“I’ve never been curling,” Woody’s nephew, Eli, said. “This is my first time.”

“This is my first time,” Mary echoed.

The club, run entirely by volunteers, puts on weekly ‘Learn to Curl’ classes.

“It’s your rite of age into the ice,” facilities manager Kevin Hand said. “In a nutshell, you’re taking a stone from one end and you’re sliding it across the ice all the way to the other end called the ‘house.’ You can’t really speed a stone up, but you can prevent it from slowing down.”

Most of the participants learned the sport existed from watching the Winter Olympics.

Now, while the Chiefs Kingdom waits for the playoffs, future curling stars are being born in KC.

“It’s a little bit harder than it looks, but it’s a lot of fun,” Woody said. “It’s just a unique and different sport than anything else we do here in the United States.”

“We have people from age 8 to 80 out here, and that’s the best part about it,” Hand said. “It’s a strategy sport, but it’s comradery and it’s just fun.”

Kansas City has the only curling-specific facility in a 350-mile radius, per the club.

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