Frogtown Curling Club brings the fun

It’s inclusive. You’ll see people who are older like me, and people who are very young men and women – and all walks of life, all countries, all physical types, and even people with some significant disabilities or they’re just older and their knees don’t work. there’s still a way to curl.”

Dave Cary

The first curling club in the Twin Cities was the St. Paul Curling Club (470 Selby Ave.) whose history started in 1885. Less than two miles away sits the Frogtown Curling Club (743 Western Ave. N), which was the second Twin Cities club with dedicated ice, not shared with hockey or figure skating.

WHAT IS CURLING?
In curling, two teams take turns sliding eight stones each down a narrow sheet of ice. The goal is to have the most stones closest to the center or button of the house (target). Two teams of four curlers alternate shots. A curler typical puts a clockwise or counterclockwise spin to make the stone curl to the right or left.
Curling is a team sport with different individual roles. Before the shot, the skip is at the opposite end strategizing shot path, placement, and weight (speed). While one curler is throwing the stone down the ice, the two other members sweep the ice in front of the stone. Founding member Dave Cary explains the science: “If they sweep in front of [the stone], the friction of their brooms changes the surface of the ice a little bit, and it can make that stone run a little straighter or curl a little more or go a little farther.”

The usual equipment
Cary said, “There is some very specific equipment, but you can get started with very little.” He continued, “You need a curling broom. We have a whole bunch of them that we loan to people who don’t have them. And then you need some way to ‘slide out’ either with a shoe that’s made for it, or if you don’t have that, you can wear normal athletic shoes and just stand on what’s called a slider, which has a little piece of Teflon on the bottom of it.”
A stone weighs 42 pounds. To put weight behind their throws, they push off a block called a hack. Each ice sheet is 146 feet long hack-to-hack with a house (target) at each end. Teams score a point for every stone that is closer to the button (bullseye) than their opponents’ closest stone, similar to bocce ball scoring.
The basic shots and strategy, like shooting pool, are easy to understand and learn, but the more advanced shots and strategy take a lifetime. Also, similar to pool or golf, players compete against their opponents but also against their previous best. Tracy Lindgren said, “There’s a lot of self-competition because you always challenge yourself. Can I make that shot? Can I do that?”

from ice rink to curling club
Biff Adams Ice Arena was home to Como High School hockey. Cary recalled, “Ramsey County had shuttered the doors of Biff Adams Ice Arena (2010). So it was closed, and they contacted St. Paul Curling Club.” According to a Star Tribune’s Nov. 16, 2010 article, “Curling club to use closed Ramsey County rink,” the St. Paul Curling Club was “the nation’s largest with 1,180 members” and hoped another curling space could “help deal with high demand and a lack of space.”
While Frogtown Curling Club members started with a pool of players from the St. Paul Curling Club, they became their own club with their own members and traditions. Cary talked about how the members came together to convert the hockey rink: “Frogtown members built the club from the ground up through volunteer work. We pulled down the hockey boards. We built a club room. We improved the facility. We’re fully responsible for the ice plant. When you have a club like we do now with 700 volunteers, it means you have people who know construction and electrical and everything you need to improve the locker room.”
Peter Akimoto found curling after his bowling team lost members and were looking for a winter activity. He remembered, “The year that we hosted the Super Bowl in Minneapolis [2017]. [The Frogtown Curling Club] had a big project that year to expand our warm space for our club room. The number that I heard was 80% of that was completed with volunteers, and 20% was licensed contractors. So I think that speaks to like kind of the energy and the passion for Frogtown and the support from the members.”
In addition to the space, the numbers have also changed. FCC has grown from about 100 members in 2011 to over 700 now, ranging in age from teens to players in their 70s.

Broomstacking with opponents
Originally, brooms were stacked in the house to prevent other players from using the ice sheet. Brian Johnson compared, “It’s like putting a coaster over your beverage to let the bartender know that you’re not going away. So you stack brooms on the house to let people know that the game’s not finished. And then you go in usually grab some food or drink with your your opponents and get warm.”
Amanda Clore also pointed out that over time, “Broomstacking” has come to mean any meeting off-ice with your opponents, even after the game. Multiple players indicated curling is unique: you are expected to hang out, eat, and drink with opponents after competing.

Bonspiel = ‘good game’
The Frogtown Curling Club hosts several bonspiels, or tournaments, open to curlers from around the country. Many have a theme, such as the Halloween Bonspiel where some competitors dress in costumes.
Clore pointed out that Frogtown hosted the first Pride Bonspiel in the U.S. and now there are about four or five more. This year’s third annual Pride Spiel was recently featured in “Lavender” magazine. The Pride Bonspiel raises money for Queerspace Collective, a youth mentorship organization.
Jenna Houseman decided to try curling after seeing it at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She spoke of the Aurora bonspiel for women only. She explained, “It’s really fun to be in a bonspiel where it’s all women.” She added, “And the guys dress up in tuxes and serve the women cocktails.”

What makes Frogtown unique
What is different about Frogtown Curling Club? President Clint Andera highlighted the community engagement. “We are conscious of trying to give back and be a part of the community in different ways. We have bonspiels that will do a food drive. During COVID, we had a member who actively recruited life-supporting materials. There’s a non-profit called Frogtown Green that we’re working with to set up their tree nursery on a section of land. They planted trees in our space because they’re trying to get more tree cover in the community,” said Andera.
Cary pointed out the club nickname is “The Fun Club.” He said, “We try to make sure that there’s fun in whatever we do.” He elaborated that the curling is competitive “as people want to make it, but not to the extent that we make it so serious that people don’t have fun.”
Amanda Clore commented, “I’m the president of the Twin Cities Curling Association. So I’m proud of all the clubs. But as a Frogtowner, we do so many things right for our community. If there’s a member that needs something, we help out. There was a house fire in the Frogtown neighborhood that Dave Cary [learned about], so we donated a couple grand to this [non-curling] family that lost everything.”
Peter Akimoto lives in Frogtown and often bikes to the club. “I feel really fortunate to have a curling club in my neighborhood. There’s somebody that drives from Faribault,” he observed. “There are people that drive from the other side of Minnetonka. It takes them 45 minutes to get here.” He also said of the six Twin Cities area curling clubs: “All the clubs are great clubs. They all have their own spirit and identity. This one feels like it somehow represents the neighborhood.... It just feels a little more kind of relaxed.”
If you and some friends or coworkers would like to take part in a “Learn To Curl” or want to know when to visit the club, contact the Frogtown Curling Club at 651-558-2200 or manager@frogtowncurling.org