Longtime Morgantown resident Jeff Ryan admits he has a somewhat limited attention span and is a notorious channel flipper, but every four years for as long as he can remember, he has parked himself in front of a television to enjoy coverage of the Winter Olympic Games. The international spectacle has appealed to him since he was a child, as he thinks it is the perfect combination of nostalgia, competition and nonstop variety.
Ryan Hand (left) and Eric McLaughlin draw curling targets on the ice at the Morgantown Ice Arena Saturday night in preparation for the Morgantown Curling Club’s “Learn to Curl” event as other members of the club look on.
But the sport he has most enjoyed does not involve slaloms, tracks or speeding bobsleds, but moves at a snail’s pace.
“Curling is a slow game, one you wouldn’t think could keep anyone watching,” Ryan, a local art teacher and potter, said. “But I sat and watched it for hours. Then the USA won gold, I was hooked.”
Ryan noted similarities between the sport and other activities he enjoys.
“I’ve always loved games of finesse like horseshoes, darts and bocce,” he said. “Like bocce, curling is a game anyone can play. Folks of all ages and abilities love this game.”
There are no professional curling teams. The amateurs showcased once every four years on the world stage do not spend their days in fancy training facilities or get big sponsorship dollars.
“Curling is definitely a sport of the people,” Ryan said laughing. “Olympic competitors are at their local rinks practicing on their lunch breaks with their own equipment. There’s no way we’d have been able to start the Morgantown Curling Club without strong community support.”
Since the United States Curling Association team snagged gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the sport has grown in popularity across the states. Ryan said West Virginia is one of only four states without an organized curling club, so last winter he and a couple of friends trekked to Robert Morris University for a Learn to Curl session hosted by the Pittsburgh Curling Club.
After realizing the three-hour round-trip was twice the time he spent on the ice itself, he floated the idea of starting a group in Morgantown.
“When I started Morgantown Curling group on Facebook, I had no idea if I could even get enough interest,” Ryan said.
The interest was there. The community helped establish the club by donating over $1,300 through a GoFundMe page, and Morgantown Curling Enthusiasts now has
173 members.
They include Kevin and Heather Barclay, who have been part of the Pittsburgh Curling Club since 2010. The Barclays were thrilled at the prospect of enjoying their favorite pastime locally.
“We can’t imagine playing with a 20-minute drive home,” Heather said. They will join other experienced local curlers at club sessions.
Fellow Pittsburgh Curling Club member and Morgantown resident Mike Gyorko recently started competing in a Pittsburgh-based league New club member Robin Pollini previously curled with the Potomac Curling Club before moving to Morgantown three years ago.
Ryan and a friend made a marathon run back and forth to Stevens Point, Wis., to bring a van-load of rented curling stones back to Morgantown in time for the club’s first Learn to Curl event Saturday night. There will be more opportunities to sign up in February and March.
“We provide everything you’ll need,” Ryan said. “Curling is a great sport for anyone of any ability. We have extension poles for stone delivery for folks with limited mobility. Wheelchair curling leagues are very popular across Canada.”
There are also plans for local sessions geared toward children.
“About half of all curling clubs in the United States sponsor programs specifically aimed at youth,” Ryan said. Our Learn to Curl sessions are designed to play the entire length of the ice (150 feet), and that distance may be troublesome for younger kids. They can still gain an understanding of the basics of the sport.”
Ryan hopes competitive curling will begin around the end of next summer, as locals need to first develop fundamentals.
“Once we have educated enough folks through our training sessions, we can host league play. We’re looking at an August and September league, maybe before fall hockey season begins. The goal is to drum up enough interest, so that the cost remains affordable.”
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