Welcome to Spring 2010 Curling

Welcome to the spring season for the Lone Star Curling Club!! Our season begins on Sunday, January 31 and continues until March 28^th. All games will be at our regular times of 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. As a reminder, please arrive a few minutes early to help with setup.

Game fees for the spring will remain unchanged at $20.00 per game, and you can also pay in advance for a discount. If you paid your membership in September, this covers your entire season, so there are no other membership dues. For new members who join during the spring, you will be charged $25.00 for a half season membership.

As you may be aware, the Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia in February. Curling should receive good television coverage during the games, so we anticipate there will be renewed interest in our sport. The club will be holding 2 open house sessions, on Feb. 28 and March 7, during our regular curling times. So on those two Sundays, no regular league curling sessions will be held.

However, we encourage all of you to come out and help with these open house sessions. We anticipate a large turnout, so everyone’s help will be needed. Our curling club formed as a result of two open houses held after the 2006 Olympics, where between 75 to 100 people attended. Also, please talk up these sessions to your friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

If there is sufficient interest, our goal is to hold an “Olympic” league during April and May. This will be an instructional league, designed for new curlers to gain experience with our sport. Existing members could also participate in the league to assist with training of new curlers. More details on this will be coming as we ascertain the level of interest after the Open House sessions.

Our goal is to continue to expand our club membership. Wouldn’t it be great if we had enough curlers next season to start holding two draws a week!! I think our club has done very well in its first four seasons, and I want the club to continue to provide fun, recreation & fellowship through curling.

My last point is about the Texas Open Bonspiel. This annual event will be held in Houston from April 16 to 18. Entries are now open, and you can find the entry form on our web site or at www.texasopenbonspiel.org. The entry fee this year is $350 per rink, with a three game guarantee. Last year, our club had three rinks playing in this bonspiel, and I would like to see that number increase this year.

This bonspiel welcomes all levels of curling skill, and you don’t have to be an experienced curler to enter. The Houston ice arena is a very nice facility, and the Houston folks work hard to make it a great time. This is also an excellent opportunity to meet other curlers and have fun representing our club at the same time. Their arena is close to Johnson Space Center and Galveston if you would like to do some touring.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions. See you on the Ice!!

Musings of the President - November, 2009

The first half of our curling season is rapidly drawing to a close. Although it seems like we just started, there will be only one more league game, this Sunday, Nov. 22, and then our annual Weird Spiel on Dec. 6.

During our last board meeting, we discussed the potential of additional curling sessions this season. The dates discussed were Dec. 13, and January 17 & 24. Michelle Richter will be contacting everyone to see if there is sufficient interest in holding these sessions. If added to our schedule, these would be additional league games. Please let Michelle know your opinion on adding these dates.

A couple of observations on the first half of the season. Firstly, welcome to all the new members. We have 11 people who have joined our club this season. This has allowed us to make use of all 4 sheets, with an average of almost 30 curlers every Sunday. It is great to see how quickly new members have caught the curling bug!! And my thanks to the membership for their work on training & making the new people part of our club.

A second thing I see is the increased level of enthusiasm this season. This combined with the improving curling skills has led to some very interesting games. I recall back to our club’s first games three years ago, when we had to do things such as reminding new curlers to make sure they put a turn on the rock. Our club is doing well!!

Another comment pertains to our ice conditions. As many of you have seen, at times the ice has been inconsistent, and during some sessions very heavy. We have expressed our concerns to Chaparral Ice, and they are working with us. They blamed the heavy ice conditions on Nov. 8 on a mechanical failure of their ice chiller. They are also working on flooding the ice so that it stays more level. The falls we had last year toward the boards on the end sheets seem to be much less this season.

Make sure to get your strange, crazy, abnormal and odd costumes ready for our Weird Spiel on December 6. The format will be similar to that used last season. When you arrive, you will draw a colored ‘stone’ which will determine the rink you will play on. We will have a round robin draw using 2 end games to determine a bonspiel winner. After curling, you are all invited to a restaurant for Brunch. More details will be coming, so watch for the emails. Thanks to Uly & Pat for organizing this.

On another note, the 2010 Winter Olympics are rapidly approaching. These will be held in Vancouver, BC this upcoming February. Given the planned television coverage, this should generate a surge in enthusiasm for curling. As most of you are aware, our club was organized shortly after the 2006 Winter Olympics. We are anticipating a similar level of interest this year.

Our tentative plans are for one or two Open House / Learn to Curl sessions to coincide with the Olympics in February. If the response is similar to other curling clubs around the US, we can expect a large number of attendees who want to try curling. We will need the help of all of our membership to make this a success. This will be our opportunity to add many new members to our club, and possibly expand to a second weekly draw. Again, watch your email for more updates as we approach February.

Also, is everyone aware that our club now has a Facebook group. If you are a Facebook member, search for the Lone Star Curling Club. The group is open to everyone, both members and the general public. It is also a good way to connect with curlers from other clubs around the country. And you never know what photos might be available, thanks to “Sister Darlene”.

As always, if you have any comments, questions, concerns or criticisms, please discuss or email them to me or any of the board members. Good Curling!!!

First of all, I would like to thank all the membership who turned out to help with our Learn to Curl session this past Sunday. We had twelve new curlers attend our session, and four new members signed up. Based on what I saw, the new people had a great time, and most did well in mastering the basics of curling. Also thanks to Kathy Younker for bringing up 4 people from her group in San Antonio.

Our fall league will start up in two weeks time on Oct. 4. Next Sunday, we are planning a unique event that will feature practice time, a chance to form rinks for the league, and games with “alumni” members. We are sending a special invitation to former members of our club, many of whom have not curled at our new facility, to come and try out our new ice.

The first half of next Sunday’s session will be free form, so you can practice your technique and get pointers from experienced club members. The second half will be a few mini, 2 end games. So if you have formed rinks, this will be your chance to play together.

I am impressed by the enthusiasm everyone has shown during the past two weeks. I think this will be a great season of curling, reuniting with friends in the club, and generally having a great time.

As always, I welcome your ideas and suggestions. Good Curling !!!

Welcome to the 2009 / 2010 Curling Season !!

Welcome to 2009 / 2010 season of the Lone Star Curling Club !! Although it doesn’t feel like fall right now, in a couple of weeks we will be starting our club’s fourth season of the “cool” sport of curling.

For this season, our curling sessions will again be on Sunday mornings, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM at the Chaparral Ice facility at 2525 Anderson Lane. Please arrive a few minutes early for each session to help with ice setup.

As done in the past, we will have a couple of special sessions to kick off the season:
Sunday, Sept. 13 – Intermediate Education session for experienced curlers
Sunday, Sept. 20 – Learn to Curl session for new members.

The intermediate session is designed for people with some curling experience. This will feature our skips and experienced members who will discuss & demonstrate topics and questions related to delivery, sweeping and strategy. The purpose of this education is to address specific areas that you want to improve or that you have had trouble with. Please email me topics or questions you have so that we can better prepare the instruction. This was a very popular session last season, and I encourage everyone to attend. The fee for this will be $20.00 per person.

The Learn to Curl session is our method to introduce the sport to new persons. This is our major recruiting session for new members, so please publicize this to anyone you know who is interested in curling. We will go through the basics of delivery and sweeping, and time permitting, run through a mini curling game. We will also need a few volunteers to assist with the instruction. There will be no charge for people to attend this session, although we will ask for donations to help offset the ice fees.

Speaking of ice fees, Chaparral Ice has increased our hourly ice fees. This season our hourly fee is $250, or almost $570 per curling session. In spite of this, the board has decided to hold the line on charges to our members. The annual membership fee this season will be $50.00. The charge for each curling session will be $20.00, a decrease of $2.00 from last season. This can be paid each session or can be paid for a half season in advance. We would like all the membership fees paid before the first league game.

We plan to address the increased ice costs in a number of ways. Firstly, this will be our year to recruit new members. If we can fill up the 4 sheets, the increased weekly ice fees will help the club to break even. In February, the Vancouver Olympics will provide tremendous coverage of curling, so we want to take advantage of this publicity. So tell people you know about our club and the sport, and encourage them to come out. There will also be flyers to place at various public places you frequent.

We also look to sponsorships from businesses or individuals to help with the club finances. This year, we are also introducing a Pro Shop to sell curling merchandise. Darlene Barnes is handling this, and she will be showing a line of curling shirts featuring our new club logo. In addition, we are also introducing a line of vehicle window stickers to decorate your vehicles and publicize our club.

League games will start either on Sept. 27 or Oct. 4. You can enter complete rinks, as groups of curlers, or as an individual who you want us to place you on a rink.

We look forward to renewing old acquaintances, meeting new members, and having a great time on the ice !! Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, ideas or suggestions.

It is the Curling Off Season but ....

We are now well into the curling off season. The club’s regular season closed with our annual play downs at the end of the march. This year’s winner was the Pat Popovich rink, also known as the SCB’s ( you will have to ask them what it stands for ), including teammates Christina, Patty & Kelly. Congratulations to all members on a great season.

The other recent curling event was the annual Texas Open Bonspiel ( TOB ) which was held in mid April in Houston. As most of you are aware, originally this was to be held here in Austin, but we had to decline as we were unable to make acceptable arrangements with the local rink operator. Three rinks from our club travelled to Houston for this year’s bonspiel.

Robert Rounding and the Houston Curling Club did a great job with this year’s TOB. The bonspiel draw included 22 rinks. The had to deal with some adverse conditions, as heavy rains on Saturday caused flooding which shut down the rink’s ice plant. They were able to work around these problems, although curling at 2:00 AM posed some interesting challenges. The Gary Newgord rink, with Rob, Kelly & Christina, ended up winning the “B” event. My rink, with Karen & Landon, as well as our San Antonio ringer Kathy, wound up in 4th place in the “A” event.

The Austin contingent also had some good times at the bonspiel. The custom of using the club president’s room as the party site was put to good use. Pat may have started a tradition, with her rendition of “Ten Reasons why curling is better than …” (you will have to ask her if you want to know the remainder of the title ). Next year’s TOB will also be held in Houston. I encourage everyone, no matter your skill level, to consider playing.

At the end of March, the club also had its general membership meeting at Zilker Park. After “rousing” campaigning, I was re-elected ( OK, it was by acclamation ) president, and Dennis Dunn was elected vice president for the 2009 / 2010 season. Since then, we have had 2 board meetings, and the following will be the executive and committee coordinators for this season:
Secretary: Christina
Treasurer: Landon
Competition: Rob
Membership: Pat
Special Events: Uly
Communications: Michelle
Front Desk & Logo Shop: Darlene
Feel free to contact any of us if you have questions, concerns, suggestions, etc.

Plans for the new season are well under way. Our play will continue to be on Sunday mornings, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. Season startup events include:
Sept. 13 – Intermediate Curling Education session
Sept. 20 – Learn to Curl for new members
Sept. 27 – Regular Season start
Watch your email for more information as we get closer to September.

The major challenge facing the club this season is to grow our membership. When we moved to the new Chaparral Ice facility last season, our hourly rates increased, so each session now costs $450.00. Last season, we had only 6 rinks in our regular draw, and ended up loosing about $1000 on ice fees ( i.e.: we paid out more than we took in ). With 4 sets of rocks, we could easily accommodate more curlers each Sunday. This would help so that we could break even on the cost of the ice.

The major factor this year is the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver, BC in February. As some of you are aware, it was after the last Olympics in 2006 that a group formed in Austin to form the Lone Star Curling Club. With extensive television coverage of curling, we should see a surge in the interest in curling. The club plans on probably two open house sessions during and after the Olympics. This should help to recruit new members. We also plan on working with the local media to help generate interest for the club. So pass the word along. It would be great to have more people join our group.

It’s hard to believe but the end of the 2008 / 2009 curling season is in sight. Our regular season will wrap up at the end of March. The current plans are for a “playdown” during the first 3 sessions of March to determine a club champion rink. March 29 will feature a special curling event, modeled on our Weirdspiel that was held in December. Watch your email for details as the plans are finalized.

We will hold our annual membership meeting in April. At this time, we will also hold elections for President, Vice President and board members for the 2009 / 2010 season. I would like to thank all of the club’s executive board members for their time and efforts this season.
Bob will have an election sign up sheet at his table each Sunday curling session, so I encourage anyone who is interested in becoming more involved with the club to stand for election. You can participate in an executive position, such as treasurer, secretary, membership, communications and special events, or as a board member at large. It involves meetings once per month ( we try to jazz them up and not make them into “bored” meetings ), plus some extra time if you join a committee.

As you may be aware, 2010 is an Olympic year. In fact, the Winter Olympics open in Vancouver, British Columbia almost exactly one year from now. With good television coverage, curling should have some excellent exposure. A critical objective for next year’s board is to coordinate local publicity for curling. We should also hold open house sessions to introduce people to curling, and help to grow our membership. It promises to be an exciting year.
I also wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the Texas Open Bonspiel. As most of you have heard, due to difficulties in arrangements with Chaparral Ice, the board decided to decline holding the 2009 TOB in Austin. The Houston Curling Club volunteered to host this year’s bonspiel on April 17 to 19 at the Space City Ice Station. I encourage everyone to show their support for our neighboring club by submitting entries – check our web site for the entry form. The entry fee is $350 per rink. If you would like to play but don’t have a rink, Bob has a sign up sheet, and we will help to form rinks.

As is traditional at bonspiels, our club president ( aka me ) will have the “party” room for this weekend. All attendees are encouraged to stop by to regal us with tales of your games, lively conversation, food ( don’t expect anything too fancy ) as well as traditional curling refreshments.

Welcome to 2008 / 2009 Season

Can you believe it is the start of the new curling season ??!! Our first league games are this Sunday, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. As in prior years, the games are held at the Chaparral Ice facility at the Northcross Mall.

We are welcoming back many members returning from the past two seasons. This season our membership includes 9 new curlers, with 5 of those persons signed up for regular league play. Welcome to all.

For those of you who did not curl late last spring, we are now in the new ice facility. We now have rings, hog lines, T-lines and center lines on the ice. I know that some of you may be nostalgic for the magic marker circles and “orange cone” hog lines, but the permanent ice markings will enhance our play, and dramatically reduce the setup time for the ice.

Another change is the game fees. Chaparral Ice increased the cost from last season’s $300 per session to $400 per session this year. If you pay on a per game basis, the new fee is $22.00 per game. We will also accept half and full season payments, where the rate is $18.00 per game.

With the reduced ice setup time, I think we should be able to have 8 end games each Sunday. However, to do this, we will need everyone’s cooperation. This will include:

• Please arrive at the rink around 9:00 AM to help with ice setup. The sooner we can get all the rocks on the ice, the sooner they will be cooler for play.

• Be ready to start the game at 9:30 AM.

• Target 15 minutes to complete each end.

• When it is your turn to shoot and while your opponent’s rock is sliding down the ice, get your rock ready and be in the hack. As soon as your opponent’s rock has stopped, you should be ready to throw your shot.

• If you are sweeping, once your rock stops, quickly move to the side of the sheet to allow your opponent to shoot. Be aware that others are trying to shoot and keep to the side of the ice, so as to not delay the game.

I think if we hustle and follow these guidelines, we should be able to complete 8 ends for every game. Note that we must have the rocks off the ice by 11:45 AM so that they can Zamboni the ice.

In the next few weeks, we will be installing a large freezer to store and cool our rocks. In the meantime, we will have to use the old method of moving the rocks onto the ice just before our games. Please bear with us, as the freezer will be an excellent enhancement.

This season, we also have a formal list of club spares. These people have paid club memberships, and should be the persons to contact if you need a sub. The use of spares gives people who want to curl occasionally a chance to play. Work with us to ensure we have full rinks for each game.

My motto for this season is “Have Fun”!!! I marvel at how well our curling club continues to thrive. As always, feel free to email or see me if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns. See you on the Ice !!!