Pittsburgh Curling Club taps into sport’s growing popularity
The sport of curling has grown in popularity since debuting in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
According to the United States Curling Association, there are 185 curling clubs across the nation with about 23,500 participants.
Among them is the Pittsburgh Curling Club, whose roots go back to 2002 on Neville Island as part of the Robert Morris University sports facility. Now, the club has its own facility at 491 McCory Road in McKees Rocks.
“Two weeks before the world shut down for the pandemic (in 2020), they opened the doors to the dedicated facility in McKees Rocks,” explained Ian Andrew, a club member. “It is a nonprofit organization, but we do have our own building. We own the land up there. We’re able to have private events.”
Recently, the club hosted the four-day inaugural World Five-and-Under tournament (5&U Worlds), which attracted not only teams from the United States, but also Canada, Israel, the Philippines and India.
“Our goal is to celebrate the unique artistry and the athleticism of curling, and provide an accessible, unforgettable experience for fans, getting to see high-level curling, in person, for the first time,” said James-Grant Robertson, 5&U Worlds co-founder in the lead-up to the tournament. “Pittsburgh’s dynamic sports culture and welcoming community make it the perfect setting for this international event.”
A Five-and-Under Tournament features participants over 21 who have less than five years of curling experience. It was the brainchild of John Shuster, who led Team USA to gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first American team to win a gold medal in curling.
“It just gives newer curlers that got into it a little later in life a chance to be competitive without absolutely getting their butts kicked by juniors who were born on the ice,” Andrew said. “We’re hoping this kind of takes off. The Five-and-Under in the U.S. has really exploded in popularity.”
Curling is a sport in which players slide heavy granite stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area segmented into four concentric circles. The path of the rock may be further influenced by two sweepers with brooms or brushes, who accompany it as it slides down the sheet, and sweep the ice in front of the stone.
What once was a sport in which those who were fanatics took to the ice in the early morning hours – the only time ice was available – has transitioned to a sport with dedicated clubs having more accessible ice time.
The Pittsburgh Curling Club, with about 100 members, also has a number of other activities, such as learn-to-curl events, which are open to the public. Curling leagues take place just about every night of the week. The club also has hosted curling parties.
“Throughout the year, we’ll do a lot of bonspiels – that’s what curling tournaments are known as,” Andrew said. “On any given night, we’ll have between 20 and 32 people there. There’s an opportunity to be there every night. (Curling) is becoming more accessible because more clubs have dedicated ice.”
Steve Buffington, president of the curling club, expects another jump in club members come 2026, the year of the next Winter Olympics.
“We’ll expect to get membership out of that,” Buffington said. “Popularity and interest in curling really peaks in Olympic years when there’s a lot of curling on television.”
The club also is handicap accessible. The Grand National Curling Club Wheelchair Championship is scheduled at the Pittsburgh Curling Club April 11-13.
Andrew, of Bridgeville, said he became interested in the sport when he first saw it on television during the 1998 Winter Olympics. He was a student at Allegheny College in Meadville and admitted he probably should have been studying when he stumbled upon something that would soon become a passion.
“I probably should have been studying for finals or midterms and it was on at 3 a.m.,” Andrew said. “I said, ‘What is this magic?’ I was able to go and try curling at a reasonable hour. I went out and tried it and now they can’t get rid of me.”
Buffington, in his second stint as club president, has a similar story that has led to about two decades of curling.
“I saw curling during a ski trip to Western Canada,” he said. “The house that we happened to rent only had one television channel. The national curling tournament for men was on television. It was about the only thing that we could get on television while we were there. We were trying to figure out what the sport was all about. When I came back a friend of mine had a curling stone as a doorstop. He was one of the founding members of our club. He called me and my wife and said they were going to start curling. The rest, as they say, is history, I guess.”
The Moon Township resident joined the Pittsburgh Curling Club shortly after it was formed.
Andrew admitted curling is a bit more physical than one would think.
“It will surprise you how exhausted you will be at the end, I promise you,” Andrew said. “The better you get, the more exhausted you are.”
Anybody interested in joining the Pittsburgh Curling Club may do so on the club’s website.
“Anybody is welcome to drop in and see what’s going on through the week,” Andrew said. “It’s a great community sport. It’s a chance to have fun and play what is often referred to as chess on ice. It’s a very strategic game.”