Curling Culture

Curling is most popular in Canada, but is played in other countries including the United States, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and even Japan, all of which, with other countries, compete in the world championships.

Improvements in ice making and changes in the rules to increase scoring and promote complex strategy have increased the already high popularity of the sport in Canada, and large television audiences watch frequent curling telecasts, especially the Tournament of Hearts (the national championship for women), the Brier (the national championship for men), and the women's and men's world championships. The Tournament of Hearts and the Brier are contested by provincial and territorial champions, and the world championships by national champions.

The first world curling championship in the sport was limited to men and was known as the "Scotch Cup" held in Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland, 1959. The first ever world title was won by the Canadian team from Regina, Saskatchewan, skipped by Ernie Richardson.

While Canadian bonspiels (tournaments) offer cash prizes, there are no full-time professional curlers. Curling survives as a people's sport, making its Winter Olympic Games debut in 1998 with men's and women's tournaments. Because accuracy, strategy, skill and experience are more valuable in curling than traditional sports virtues of speed, stamina and strength, most competitive curlers are older than their counterparts in other sports. However there are many young teams who turn heads, and junior curling is quite popular, with national finals being televised nation-wide in Canada.

Curling is the provincial sport of Saskatchewan, home of one of the most famous curlers, the late Sandra Schmirler who led her team to the first ever Gold Medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Curling probably does not take its name from the motion of the stones. In the early history of curling, the rocks were simply flat-bottomed river stones which were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower had little control over the rock, and relied more on luck than skill to win. The real origins of the word "curling" are not known. It was first used in print in 1630 in Perth, Scotland. One possible derivation is that it came from the old verb "curr" which describes a low rumble, a sound that is strongly associated with the game (curling is often called the roaring game). Nevertheless, today a rock which deviates from a straight line is said to curl.