It's Not Summer Break for Everyone
It doesn't matter if it's blistering hot outside, many arena curlers are still on the ice.
The calendar is getting ready to flip to July, so it seems like the perfect time for another curling newsletter. I do not apologize for this interruption of your margaritas, grilling, hiking, baseball games, or whatever other summer festivities you are currently enjoying.
Summer is announcement season. We’ve already had news about FoamGate, 5-and-Under Qualifiers, the 5-and-Under National Championship host site, and some roster changes announced on Teams Strouse and McMakin, Team Wendling (formerly known as Team Sampson), and Team Sinnett.
Summer also means playdowns for many arena curling clubs! Many curlers are on a summer break from competition, but the competition is heating up for the curlers who have to deal with S-curves, 10 feet of fall, and throwing peel weight for draws to the button.
Ever since USA Curling started hosting the Arena National Championship at a dedicated ice facility, I’ve heard some bemused people asking why the national championship for arena curling is held on dedicated ice. That same line of questioning has continued to surface as many regions also are hosting their playdowns at dedicated clubs.
I’ll be honest - I had no idea about the life of arena curlers until I moved from Wisconsin to Texas. I learned the roaring game at a nice 3-sheet club, enjoyed the opportunity to practice while the ice was in, and got annoyed when I had to play shots on the wall side of my club’s edge sheets. Then I moved to an arena club and learned the hard way what it’s like to be an arena curler
Ice time is hard to come by, and even then, we rarely got on the ice on time. When we finally got on the ice, it was garbage. A Zamboni can only do so much to fix the gouges left behind by hockey players. Rocks could go any direction. It was almost a totally different sport.
Sweeping can sometimes do the opposite of what you’d see on dedicated ice. You could throw two rocks identically and they’d magically end up on different sides of the sheet. For league play, it became clear that luck was a much bigger factor, and standard strategy I learned on dedicated curling ice needed to go out the window.
I’m not sure if three paragraphs of the challenges of arena curling do it justice, but you get the idea. So why have I always advocated that arena playdowns or arena nationals be held on dedicated curling ice when many players can show how they navigate challenging ice situations?
Because a championship should never be the ice. A national championship or earning the right to play at one, regardless of the discipline or type of championship, should be about the curlers.
Arena nationals should not be about finding which team can adapt to different arena conditions the best, it should be finding the best team who doesn’t have regular access to dedicated ice.
These curlers already have to play on arena conditions for the entire season, and in some cases, they have a significant amount of travel required if they want to play on good ice. Why subject these people to questionable ice conditions for a championship or a playdown? They already have to do that. Give them the good stuff. They’ve earned it.
Important caveat: Just as the ice conditions will vary from club to club, they can also vary from arena to arena. And if a club has the time and effort to put into it, they can convert their hockey ice into solid conditions for a weekend event. If there is confidence that good curling ice can be made for a competitive event at one of the arena clubs, then by all means, host away! But I believe the focus for any arena playdown or championship should always be on putting together the best possible conditions for the athletes.
Speaking of earning it, some teams have earned the right to play at the Arena National Championships at Las Vegas this October.
Arena Playdowns
Since my last update, 5 regions have completed their playdowns, which means approximately half of the field has been determined for nationals.
I’ve been working to track down results from the Great Lakes region, so if you know anyone that competed or officiated, please let me know! I also have been able to get the winning teams from the Dakota playdown, but I’m still looking for more information on total results and rosters from the event.
Assuming I get more information from those regions before my next newsletter, I’ll be sure to give some more detail on those qualifying events.
GNCC Women’s
Winner: Carlson (Rocket City Curling Club)
Runner-Up: O’Grady (Jersey Pinelands Curling Club)
The Grand National Curling Club had a strong 7-team field of women’s teams take the ice at the Worcester Ice Center as Colonial Curling hosted this year’s playdowns.
Five clubs were represented in total across the seven teams, and Team Carlson from Rocket City was the cream of the crop. This team returns most of the curlers from last year’s Arena National Championship team, three of the four were also competitors at the 5-and-Under National Championship in May.
The Rocket City squad went a perfect 5-0, including an 8-1 victory over Team O’Grady from Jersey Pinelands in the final to earn their return back to arena nationals. With dedicated ice in the plans for Huntsville, AL, it’s good to see Team Carlson taking advantage of the opportunity to compete at arenas while they still can.
GNCC Men’s
Winner: Curtis (Rocket City Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Gustafson (Rocket City Curling Club)
Last year, Team Curtis earned the first medals for the 7-year-old Rocket City Curling Club with their 3rd place finish in Wausau, including a stunning upset of the reigning 4-time champions.
They looked the part at playdowns in Worcester going undefeated in five games, including a strong 7-1 win in the finals over fellow club members Team Gustafson. It’s never easy to improve on a podium finish, but Curtis earned the right to try and do just that in October.
It appears the lottery system used by the GNCC in 2024 to determine their representatives at last year’s Arena National Championships may have been more prescient than I realized. Both Carlson and Curtis were selected by the GNCC to go to Wausau last year, and this year they both won their way back to the championship.
MOPAC Women’s
Winner: Connelly (Wine Country Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Feldman (Wine Country Curling Club)
I was wondering if we’d see a slight bump in arena teams competing at the MoPac playdowns considering both Team Asis and Team Spangler of the MoPac region earned their spot at nationals thanks to their gold medal finish last season. While the men’s playdown featured 9 teams, the women’s playdown consisted of three California-based teams.
Even though there were only three teams, it was a very strong field with all three teams having members who curled at nationals last year in Wausau. The three teams competed in a double round-robin, and Team Connelly started strong with wins in each of their first three games, defeating Team Mewers twice and Team Feldman once.
While they dropped their final game to Team Feldman, it ended up not mattering as Mewers defeated Feldman in the final game of the round robin. With no ties and the 1-loss provision not coming into effect, Team Connelly was crowned the victors and will join Team Asis as MoPac representatives in Las Vegas.
MOPAC Men’s
Winner: Gilbert (Oval Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Malaret (Oval Curling Club)
The MoPac men’s playdown has traditionally been the largest in the country, and they showed out once again with nine teams from five clubs making the trip to Coyotes Curling Club for playdowns. Last year, it was Wine Country’s team to shine at playdowns, but 2025 seemed to be the year of the Oval with three of the four playoff teams coming from Oval Curling Club, led by 2023 playdown winners, Team Gilbert.
Gilbert dropped game two to Park City’s Team Collins but bounced back with a close win over Team Padilla from Wine Country. After a win in the semifinals, they would take on fellow club members from the Oval, Team Malaret to determine the MoPac representative.
Starting with hammer in the first, Team Gilbert split the house from the get-go and forced Malaret to chase right away. Every rock Malaret put in the house in the first end, Gilbert was able to make a precise hit-and-roll. Skip Carl Malaret’s final rock was able to sit shot stone but was just a hair heavy, and Gilbert took advantage of the separation. Fourth David Hurst made a perfect hit to score six, and that basically was all she wrote.
Team Gilbert would go on to win 9-3 in the final and earn their return to championship ice after having just barely missed out in the 2024-2025 season. After qualifying for both arena nationals and 5U nationals in 2023-2024, they were arguably the best team to not make it to 5U nationals last season. They’ve got themselves off to a good start for the new season.
PNWCA Women’s
Winner: Avery (Boise Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Roozee (Bend Curling Club)
Last year, Team Avery was the lone women’s team out of the Pacific Northwest to register for their playdown which means they got their ticket to nationals uncontested. This year, Team Roozee of Bend Curling Club also registered to create a two-team playdown at Granite Curling Club in Seattle.
Rhiannon Avery won the first game of the best-of-3 playoff in convincing fashion, but Roozee gave the Boise curlers a strong fight in game two.
Team Roozee scored 1, stole 1, and then forced 1 to take a 2-1 lead after three, but Team Avery roared back with a steal of three in the fourth end. It might have looked bleak for the Bend curlers after Avery stole another in the fifth, but Roozee wasn’t done yet.
Sitting 1st and 3rd rocks, skip Gabi Roozee was able to make the open hit on the red rock sitting second shot. The Bend shooter stuck around for a score of three to tie things up with two ends to play, but that was as close as the 2024 PNWCA nationals representatives would allow it to get.
Team Avery scored a big three-point end in the 7th followed by a steal of two more in the final end to secure their return to the national championship.
As far as I was able to tell, there were unfortunately no men’s teams registered for their playdowns, so either one team will get in uncontested, or the PNWCA will not be sending a men’s team to nationals. Regions have until July 18th to accept their spot at arena nationals, so we will have to wait and see what happens with that spot.
Dakota Women’s
Winner: Connell (Billings/Last Chance Curling Clubs)
Runner-Up: Weber (Sioux Falls Curling Club)
The Dakota Territory playdowns were originally slated to be held at Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club but were relocated to Billings, Montana. From what I was able to gather, it sounds like there were a number of new teams participating in their first ever competitive event.
On the women’s side, Dakota’s 2024 nationals representative Team Weber of Sioux Falls won a tiebreaker to advance to the finals against Team Connell out of Last Chance (Helena) and Billings Curling Clubs. Team Connell was able to get the win in the final to book their ticket to the Arena National Championship.
This will be the first berth at a national championship for a Montana-based team. Skip, Jamie Connell told KTVQ that she picked up the sport about 5 years ago, and now, she and her team have a road trip down I-15 to Las Vegas for the national championship in October!
Dakota Men’s
Winner: Weber (Sioux Falls Curling Club)
Runner-Up: Loucks (Missoula Curling Club)
Austin Weber and company are becoming something of a mainstay at the Arena National Championships. The silver medalists from the 2023 championship in Eveleth will have their opportunity to get back on the podium in 2025 after a strong showing in Billings.
Team Weber went undefeated through pool play and won 11-1 over Team Loucks of Missoula Curling Club to cap off a perfect 5-0 weekend on the shore of the Yellowstone River. I would not be surprised to see this team be one of the top teams to watch this fall.
More to Come…
The Midwest Curling Association has their playdowns this weekend, and then as far as I’m aware, there are no other playdowns until August. I am waiting word on the Minnesota playdowns, but last I had heard they were considering trying to have their playdowns at the same time as the Mid-American playdowns which will be held at Four Seasons Curling Club in the middle of August. There are an impressive 10 men’s and 8 women’s teams registered for the MACA region playdowns!
It sounds like a number of teams have already registered for September’s Last Chance qualifier in La Crosse, WI. I hope it can be a great turnout.
I appreciate those who have helped me track down information, but if any readers have information on the Great Lakes playdowns, I am still trying to track down winners and results from that event. Also, I am working on trying to get full team rosters and results from the Dakota playdowns, so if any readers know where I can get that, please shoot me an email!
There is a chance for a newsletter in July which will not have much for results, but otherwise, I’ll definitely be having more in August as you dedicated ice club curlers might start getting the itch to get back on the ice again.
As always, thanks for reading, and good curling!
Thank you for featuring arena curling and arena curlers.
"Important caveat: Just as the ice conditions will vary from club to club, they can also vary from arena to arena. And if a club has the time and effort to put into it, they can convert their hockey ice into solid conditions for a weekend event." A factor that arena clubs must consider is ice rental rates inclusive of time for conversion/preparation and for competition. Some arena managers charge hourly rates even for a weekend event; others offer an event rental rate. Also, the event needs to be scheduled when the other ice users (hockey, figure skating, sled hockey, and community-open-skate) can/will forfeit time.
The La Crosse Curling Club benefits from management that supports curling (multigenerational and all-ages); with a reasonable event rental rate and a community grant, the LCC can host ANQB and not incur a loss in revenue. In coordinated efforts to make good curling ice, (1) our Zamboni drivers adapt shaving techniques and movement patterns and (2) each week, our ice manager monitors the level of our ice. For these reasons and because Kevin Madsen will continue as our event ice-technician, the LCC confidently invites any men's or women's arena team to compete on our good curling ice in the 2025 ANQB.