The rock slides down the ice in a curved pattern as the three girls rush towards it. Shouting and the sound of brooms against ice echo around the room. Tension hangs in the air as the seconds tick down in the final end. Five, four, three, two, one. The buzzer blares and the four girls scream in excitement. Winning never felt so good.

Curling is a sport in which two teams of four players take turns throwing 44-pound stones, called rocks, down the ice toward the bullseye target, called the house. The other members of the team use brooms to sweep the ice in front of the rock, preventing the rock from slowing down for a longer period of time. Whichever team’s rock comes closest to the center of the house wins the point. This process repeats for six to ten rounds, called ends. 

Sophomore Rese Elza’s love for the sport began in seventh grade, when her science teacher Michael Graves introduced her to curling. She now plays with the Midland Curling Club on a U-18 Girls team, comprised of girls under the age of 18. 

In the future, Elza hopes to continue curling either in college or just for fun.

“There are a lot of older people in this sport and that’s kind of what I want to do,” Elza said. “For awhile, I want to curl competitively. There’s USA curling options, which is out of high school. Even if I just do it for fun when I’m older, I for sure want to keep up the sport.” 

To learn more about the rules of curling, visit https://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/curling.html