Jeanne is the club’s webmaster and member of the Board of Directors.  Read how she describes her curling experience.

“Growing up in Montreal, Quebec, curling was all around me. It was so common, in fact, that it never really dawned on me to try it.  Sometimes after school, I would meet up with friends to watch all of the mothers play in their league and it was cool to see these normally reserved women turn into passionate competitors. I didn’t understand it at the time, but this was an outlet for them after spending most of their days taking care of us!

“When I moved down to Richmond two years ago, a coworker decided to surprise me by taking me to a Learn2Curl. I had no idea that curling existed in Virginia but the smell of the ice made me forget my homesickness for a couple hours. We both liked our experience so much that we joined the league and have been with the Curling Club of Virginia ever since. Now, I’m the webmaster, my team won the silver medal last season, I was named Volunteer of the Year and now I serve on the Board!

When Jeanne is not busy with curling or coaching in our Cardinal League, she is an entertainment editor and freelance writer.  Come meet Jeanne and the Curling Club of Virginia at our next Learn2Curl April 12.

Congratulations, Curling Club of Virginia, on being selected for a second year to participate in the Arena National Curling Championships from June 12-15, 2014 in Michigan.

Thirty-two teams from California to South Carolina will compete in this national curling championship, which is conducted by the US Curling Association and designed for club curlers who utilize arena-style ice conditions to determine the top arena team in the nation.

Returning team members Brent Cooke and Rich Collins (Midlothian, Va.) will represent the CCVa men’s team, along with club members Josh Leggette (Henrico, Va.) and Sam Sparks (Richmond, Va.).

For the women, Kirsten Collins (Midlothian, Va.) will be making her second appearance at this event.  Joining her on the CCVa women’s team are club members Mary Millage (Midlothian, Va.), Katie McCartney (Charlottesville, Va.) and Christine Alessi (Richmond, Va.).

Last year’s inaugural event took place in July at the Canlan Ice Sports Arena in Fort Wayne, Ind.  This year’s event will include teams from California, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, North and South Carolina and Virginia.

Good luck and good curling to our teams, and all the teams competing in this exciting and important event!

Meet the Curling Club of Virginia; meet Brent Cooke! Brent is a founding member of the Club and past president on the Board of Directors.

Brent started curling when he was in 8th grade living in Canada.  He first curled in a recreational league before joining the high school league at the Heather Curling Club in St. Boniface, Manitoba.  The club was only a block from his childhood home, and he spent his weekends watching curlers on the ice.  One Saturday morning, he was asked to fill in as a spare on a men’s team, and he has been curling ever since!

For several years, Brent curled in the the Manitoba Curling Association Bonspiel, where he had the privilege to curl against Canada’s  champion Kerry Burtnyk.  Since helping to found the Curling Club of Virginia, Brent represented the Club in the inaugural USCA Arena National Championships last year and several regional Arena Curling Club Championships with the Grand National Curling Club.  He has also curled in Scotland, the birthplace of our great sport.

One thing Brent really enjoys about curling is the strategic approach to the game and challenges presented throughout the game.  He finds great pleasure in instruction for curling newcomers and looks forward to continued years of play.

When Brent isn’t busy curling competitively or teaching at our Learn2Curls, he works as a Technical Enterprise System Architect at DuPont.  Come meet Brent and the Curling Club of Virginia at our next Learn2Curl event on Thursday, March 13!

Just because the Olympics are over, doesn’t mean the excitement and interest in curling has to end!

Get out on the ice at the Richmond Ice Zone with us this week during one of our Curling Experiences.  In about 30 minutes time, you will learn some of the basics of curling and get acquainted with our equipment before going out on the ice to throwing a rock and sweeping a stone like an Olympian.

We have two different opportunities this week on Thursday, March 6 from 7-9 and Saturday, March 8 from 7-10 pm.  You can register for a specific time frame in advance online, or we will be taking walk-ins on a first come basis.

More details about this and other curling events can be found on our What is Curling? page.

Curling Club of Virginia was proud to be represented at last week’s  Francis Dykes Memorial Bonspiel! It is one of the toughest men’s competitions in the region for teams with 5 years or less curling experience, and our team put on a great game.

The Francis Dykes Memorial Bonspiel is a men’s curling event and one of three annual events hosted by the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC), the governing body for Eastern U.S. curling clubs, to encourage competition among new curlers with 5 or fewer years of curling experience.  This year’s competition paired up 44 teams from 16 clubs on the East Coast at the Schenectady Curling Club in New York.   We enjoyed watching some of their games online through 12th End Sports Network (TESN.US).

This is the second time our club has participated in this prestigious event, skipped by CCVa board member Travis Hamilton, with teammates Jonah Yearick, Josh Leggette and Sam Sparks.