The President's Blog

Only 2 months to curling season!!!!

2011-07-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a great summer. Can you believe that our curling season ended almost 3 months ago??!! The club’s board has been hard at work planning for the new season.

The following are the board positions for the 2011 / 2012 season:

§ Vice President – Rob Klein

§ Treasurer – Landon Russell

§ Secretary – Michelle Richter

§ Membership – Randy Sabbagh

§ Communications and Web Site –Buck Krawczyk

§ Special Events – Uly Suchil

§ Pro Shop – Michelle Richter & Pat Popovich

§ Competition – Ken Poklitar

§ V My thanks to the past year’s board members who did not seek or were not re-elected to the board at the May annual meeting. This includes Bill McBeth, Christina Gilsbach, Darlene Barnes, and Zac Grantham. The strength of this club is its volunteers, and your efforts were very much appreciated.

Plans are well underway for the new season. The preliminary schedule starts with an Open House on Sept. 11. If you have any friends or acquaintances interested in curling, this would be the opportunity for them to give curling a try. An education and practice session is planned for Sept. 18, and the first league games would be on Sept. 25. The Fall season will run through to Dec. 18, with the Winter season starting again on January 9 and running till April 1. Games will be at the same time as years past, Sundays 9:30AM to 11:45 AM, at the Chaparral Ice facility on Anderson Lane. Watch your email for membership signup and more details.

For those of you in summer curling withdrawal, the club is looking to hold a practice session. This is tentatively planned for Sunday, August 14 from 9:30AM to 11:45AM. This will be an open ice session, so you can practice or pickup games. Pat Popovich is coordinating the event. It will require a minimum of 25 persons, so watch your email for sign up information.

Probably the most exciting development for the club this season will be the construction and opening of the Austin Curling Center (ACC). Anita and Dennis are working hard on making their dream a reality. Their target for opening is the Spring of 2012.

Another event in the planning stage is the 2012 Texas Open Bonspiel (TOB). Our club has committed to host this event, and if plans come together, it will be first major event held at the ACC. Ken Poklitar has accepted the position of bonspiel chairman. He has compiled a detailed list of activities and ideas for the bonspiel. This is a major event for our club, and will require much time and effort from the membership. There will be many opportunities to volunteer and help out with the event. Watch your email for the organizational meeting.

As always, please contact me if you have questions, comments, suggestions, or criticisms. I welcome your input. First rocks in the new season are less than 2 months away!!!!!

Curling in 2011

2011-01-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a good time over the Christmas & New Years holidays.

The curling club’s Winter season will begin soon with the first games on January 16. If you have not already done so, please let Christina know if you will be curling. Payment of $220.00 is due by January 9. This can be sent either to club treasurer, Landon Russell, or payment can be made on the club’s web site.

On Sunday, January 9, we will be holding an education session. This will be a chance for everyone to improve their curling skills, and I encourage all to attend. There will be sessions ranging from a Learn to Curl, Intermediate curling training, a practice sheet and an open forum sheet. Dennis will also be holding a session on stick delivery.

The charge will be $20.00 per person, and will be at our regular time from 9:30AM to 11:45AM. Pat, Zac and Landon are coordinating this session, so feel free to email questions or suggestions to them.

I will be handling the open forum sheet. I do not have any specific topics to cover, but instead will answer questions on any curling topics you want to discuss. Whether it is delivery, sweeping, strategy or rules, ask whatever you want and I will try to answer or demonstrate.

To help prepare for this, please email me ( president@lonestarcurlingclub.org) any topics or questions you would like to cover. This will give me a chance to research and print out some reference information that I can hand out.

As a reminder, the Texas Open Bonspiel will be held in Dallas from April 29 to May 1. Watch their web site (http://dfwcurling.com/ ) for details. The entry form should be posted sometime early in the new year. Last year the bonspiel filled up, so get your entries in early.

On another note, we recently heard that one of the people involved in the founding of the Lone Star Curling Club, Alex Legault, passed away in a traffic accident recently. Although Alex has not been involved with the club over the past few years, his efforts during the early years of the club were very helpful to get our club going.

As always, feel free to email suggestions, questions or ideas. All the best in 2011 and see you on the ice!!

It is November!!!

2010-11-19T03:47:00.000-08:00

After almost 2 months of curing season, we have 4 weeks of league play to go for the fall. And the board has been making plans for the league wrap-up and the winter league.

On December 19, we will hold the playoff games for the fall league. The first place rink will play the second place rink for the championship, third plays fourth, fifth plays sixth, etc. Unfortunately, the two last place rinks will not play that day.

After curling, we will hold a club social event at Dave & Busters restaurant. This will be open to all members, as well as any guests members would like to bring. Pat & Uly will need a head count of who plans on attending, so watch your email for signups.

The winter league will start on January 16 & run through to mid-April. For this league, we will open up the roster for new people or rinks who wish to curl regularly. We will expand the draw if we have more than the 12 current rinks. Changes can also be made to existing rinks for this league.

Our plans are to have each rink play 11 league games, as we had in the fall. Rates will remain at $220 for the league, which we need to have paid in advance. Again, watch your email for more information and sign ups. Deadline for sign up will be Jan. 9.

Something new we will introduce is sections to the league schedule. Based on the fall league standings, we will break the schedule into Yellow & Red sections. Each rink within a section will play each other. The top two rinks in section Yellow will then move into section Red, and the bottom two rinks in Section Red will go to Section Yellow. The schedule will then repeat the play between rinks in the section.

On January 9, we will hold an education session for all members and any other interested persons. We will expand the format of this session to include the following:

One sheet for a Learn to curl session, designed for new or inexperienced curlers
Two sheets for intermediate education. This is designed for curlers with some experience who want to improve on the basics of delivery
One sheet that will be open for people who want to practice
One sheet for “Wayne’s Game Live”. I will host this sheet, and it will be an open forum for experienced curlers who want to address specific questions or issues in their game

The charge will be $20 per person. An email will be coming with more information and sign up.

We have been asked if there is any interest from our club in participating in the Pacific International Cup (PIC) bonspiel. This is held every year in early April in Vancouver, British Columbia. Texas sends one men’s and one women’s rink. Participants are responsible for all of their own expenses to attend this bonspiel. We share this invitation with Dallas Houston and Oklahoma city. There will be a playoff to decide the representatives. Please contact me if there is interest in participating in this or if you would like more information.

Although it is a few months away, reserve the weekend of April 29, 30 & May 1 for the annual Texas Open bonspiel. This will be held in Dallas this year. Last year, our club sent 5 rinks to this bonspiel. It is always a fun time to curl and to meet curlers from other cities. Entries will probably be accepted starting in late January.

As always, feel free to let me know any questions, comments, criticisms or suggestions. Good curling!!

Welcome to 2010 / 2011 Season

2010-08-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

August, 2010

Although it may be sweltering outside these day, the start of the new season for the Lone Star Curling Club will be here in less than a month. The club’s board has been working over the summer on plans for the 2010 / 2011 curling season.

First of all, our total of paid memberships for the new season is now at 53. This includes both people who want to play full time, as well as subs. This number will allow us to have 12 rinks for the new season league. That is a 50% increase over last season!!

Christina is working on rink assignments. We will attempt to accommodate everyone’s preferences for rinks and positions, although with the larger numbers, we may need to ask some people to change.

We will continue to play at the same time & place. All curling games will be held at the Chaparral Ice facility on West Anderson Lane. Games will be played from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. Please arrive by 9:15 to help with ice setup.

The new curling season will start on Sunday, September 12 with a curling skills clinic. This will be coordinated by our three members, Pat, Landon & Zac, who attended the US Curling Association Skills meeting in Dallas in June. With our larger size, we have a diversity of curling experience levels, so there will be sections for both experienced and novice curlers. This is an optional session, with a charge of $20 person. I encourage you to attend, as this session will help to enhance your curling skills during the season. Watch your email for more details.

Our regular season starts the next Sunday, Sept. 19, and continue each Sunday morning till December 12. A change from last season is that we will hold a curling session the Thanksgiving weekend Sunday. Each rink will play 10 games, and have 2 byes. Playoffs will be held on Dec. 12, with playoff seeding determined based on season records. Our annual Weirdspiel will held on December 19. The second half of the season will resume on January 9.

As mentioned in a previous blog & email, Chaparral Ice has dramatically increased our ice fees this season. With the 5^th sheet, we are able to keep the game fees at $20 per person per game. However, the increased fees have forced us to require prepayment of game fees. So for the first half of the season, we will need a payment of $220.00 from each curler. We need this payment by Sept. 12, so please mail or give your check to treasurer Landon Russell by this date. Zac is also working on a Pay Pal option for payment through our club’s web page.

For the September 19 season opener, the club will hold a tail gate event in the parking lot. This will be a chance to reconnect with everyone in the club, plus meet the new curlers who have joined. Arrive by 8:30AM. Our special events people are working on plans for this event, so watch your email.

I am looking forward to a great season of curling in 2010 / 2011. Although curling can be competitive, make sure you enjoy yourself and have fun. As always, if you have questions, comments, suggestions or criticisms, feel free to email or talk to me – I welcome your input. Good curling!!!

Now accepting entries for Next Season!!

2010-05-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Lone Star Curling Club is now accepting entries for the 2010 / 2011 season. Depending on the interest level, we plan on holding 2 and possibly 3 leagues of 10 rinks each in the new season. The existing Sunday morning time will be retained, but at least one of these new leagues are planned for a weekday evening.

Membership is open to people of all experience and skill levels. If you did not have a chance to participate in our Olympic Instructional League this spring, we have plans for an instructional Learn to Curl session in September prior to the start of the curling leagues. This session will teach new curlers the basics of delivery & sweeping.

In terms of fees, as was mentioned at the annual meeting, Chaparral Ice has given us notice that they are increasing our charge for ice time to $350 per hour for next season. This is a significant increase over the $250 per hour we paid this past season. A curling session will now cost the club almost $800.00.

The board has decided to keep the per game fees to the same $20 level as in this past season. This is feasible only if we have a full draw with 10 rinks. Since this is a large expenditure for the club, the one change for next season is that we will require advance payment for game fees. Preliminary plans are for 22 games. You may pay for an entire season ( $440 ), or two payments for each half season ( $220 in September & January ).

Membership fees for the new season will be $65.00 per person. This is an increase of $15 per person over last season. The membership fees covers all the general operating expenses of the club, such as insurance, US Curling Association membership, equipment, web site hosting, ice time for open houses, publicity, etc. The club is in need of some new equipment, and with ice fees at a break even level, we need to increase the membership fees in order to pay for the equipment. Equipment purchases discussed include additional club brooms (i.e.: we want everyone playing to have a broom), a measuring stick, and a second storage closet.

Since we will have a maximum number of curlers that can be accommodated, we will be setting deadlines for league signup. People who were members for the full 2009 / 2010 season will have first access to their desired league. Their deadline is July 1. The deadline for new members is Aug. 1. As in years past, you can join a league as an entire 4 person rink, as a group of 2 or 3 persons who wish to curl together, or as an individual. If you would like to play in multiple leagues, you can sign up for that also.

There are two steps to join the league for next season:

· Please email your intention to join a league to membership director Christina Gilsbach (membership@lonestarcurlingclub.org). In your email, please indicate:

i. Name, mailing address, preferred email address.

ii. Preferred curling time – i.e.: Sunday and / or weekday evening. If a weekday evening, list the preferred day(s).

iii. If you have organized a rink or persons that you want to curl with, please list their names.

· Mail or give a cheque for your membership fee of $65.00, payable to “Lone Star Curling Club” to Treasurer Landon Russell at:

7620 Yaupon Drive
Austin, TX 78759

We look forward to a great curling season. Please contact me (president@lonestarcurlingclub.org) if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

Olympics and Curling in Austin

2010-03-20T13:34:00.001-07:00

First of all, my thanks to all members who turned out last Sunday to help with our Open House session. We had at latest count 410 people attend, with an estimated 100 who turned away because of the long lineups. It demonstrates an incredible interest in curling in this city when people fill up the waiting area, and are lined up out the hallway and into the parking lot. Obviously, the Olympic coverage was our catalyst, whether due to great TV coverage, excellent competition or the Norway pants, we have seen a major spike in curling. We could not have made our open house a success without the volunteer efforts.

To put this in perspective, in 2006 when our club was formed, we had an estimated 80 & 60 persons attend the 2 open house sessions. This year, we have almost 3 times that number in one session!! Our instructional league planned for April & May is full, with 32 paid entries, and over 100 persons on the waiting list. This is a great time for curling in Austin!!

We are holding a second open house session next Sunday, March 7. Many of the attendees expressed an interest to come back again, so I expect another large turnout. If you have time available, please come out to assist with this event. We have 10 hacks set up, with rotating groups of new curlers coming onto the ice to try out delivery and sweeping. It would be great if we could have 2 club members at each hack. Also, with large crowds, there is the need for greeters and people to answer curling questions.

The instructional league will definitely go ahead. This will be held after our season ends, with sessions scheduled for Sundays, April 11 & 25, and May & 9, at our regular curling times of 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. Since every rink in this league will be new curlers, we want to assign a “coach” to each rink, which will be a league member who will help the new people learn the sport. Teaching is a great way to hone your own curling skills, and it will be a good opportunity to get new curlers to join our club.

Also, if we can find ice time for a second instructional league, there will also be the need for coaches. More details are to follow, but if you are interested, Darlene will have a sign up sheet. And do not fear that your knowledge is not sufficient to be a coach. Everyone in the club has enough curling knowledge to pass on to new people. And I will hold a “coaches clinic” before the league to review methods to teach new curlers.

We still have some league curling this season. Our league resumes after next week’s open house with league games on March 14 & 21, and then our wind up event on March 28. Watch your email for more details on the wind up event – it promises to be weirder than ever.

In addition, the Texas Open Bonspiel will be held in Houston on April 16, 17 & 18. This is an opportunity for curling, getting to know curlers from other cities and for a fun weekend. Entries are now open for rinks. If you would like to play, but do not have a rink, Darlene has a sign up sheet, and the club will organize rinks to enter. The Houston Curling Club puts in a lot of effort for this bonspiel, and they have done a great job in the past. Let’s show our support from the Lone Star Curling Club.

As a final note, the annual club elections are coming up. Positions up for election include President, Vice President, and 8 board members. Darlene will have a sign up sheet for anyone interested in these positions. If you have the time, please consider letting your name stand. Elections will be held during our annual meeting at a date to be set by the board, so watch you email.

As always, please feel free to give me your comments, questions, suggestions or criticisms. After I see all the efforts at an event such as the past open house, I feel honored to be a member of this club.

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2010-03-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

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Welcome to Spring 2010 Curling

2010-01-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T06:47:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-09-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

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 !!

2009-08-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

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 ....

2009-07-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-02-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-09-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

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 !!!

2008-09-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Its September and a New Curling Season !!

2008-09-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that it is already September, and fall is here. And if it’s September, that means it’s the start of our third curling season!! The board has been meeting over the summer, and working hard on the upcoming season.

September has a several events planned to kick off the season. On Sunday, September 7, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM, we will hold an Intermediate Curling education session. This is a chance to work with experienced club members to upgrade your curling skills and address curling problems or questions you have.

On Saturday, September 13, from 4:15 PM to 6:15, we will hold our beginning of season Open House. This is the time to introduce the sport to new people, and to recruit new members to our club. We will need lots of volunteer assistance with event. Kelly is coordinating the open house, so please let her know how you can assist. This is the event to publicize our club, so tell friends, relatives and people you know who have expressed an interest in curling.

On Sunday, September 21, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM, we will hold a Learn to Curl session. This will be designed for new curlers, providing instructions on the basics of delivery, sweeping and strategy. This will be a great opportunity for persons from the Open House to get a more in depth introduction to curling. Kelly will also be coordinating this session. Again, anyone can attend this learn to curl session, so tell friends and acquaintances.

Our regular season starts on Sunday, September 28. Games will be held from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM.

Now is also the time to start renewing your membership in the club. The membership for a year will be $50.00 per person, the same fee as last season. The membership fee funds club operations, pays for insurance, new equipment, etc. Pat, our membership chairwoman, will have membership sheets and waivers at each session, and you can pay your membership at this time. You can also send your membership and payment directly to Pat.

The game fees will change this year. Chaparral Ice has increased their fees for Sunday curling from $150 to $200 per hour. Consequently, we will be increasing the per game fees to $22.00 per person.

One additional option for game fees this year will be a prepayment option. If you pay in advance for a half or entire season, the game fee will be $18.00 per person. This will pay your fees for all games during the season. However, there will be no refunds if you are unable to attend a game. The fee for the first half of the season is $198 per person ( 11 sessions ), and the full season is $414 per person ( 23 sessions ).

For this season’s regular curling, the club will accept entries in multiple ways, including:

Rinks – you can enter a rink of 4 persons who will play together during the entire season

Groups – 2 or 3 persons who want to play together during the entire season. The club will assign you with other members to complete your rink

Individuals – i.e.: we will place you on a rink.

Sub – i.e.: you only want to curl occasionally.

So if you want to curl with friends, this year you will be able to do that.

This year we will have a formal list of substitutes. If you know you will not be able to attend a session, you can contact and arrange a sub for your rink. This helps the club pay for the ice with more persons playing, and gives more people a chance to curl.

Another innovation planned for this year is aimed at parity between rinks in our league. We are not yet large enough to have multiple draws where rinks of similar skills can be matched. Our competition committee chairman ( aka: Tim ) is working on a handicap system that we will use for this season. Watch for more details on this as we approach the start of the season.

One of our problem areas the past two seasons has been keeping our rocks cool. As some of you are aware, rocks that are not chilled melt into the ice, resulting in having to throw very heavy weight. At the old rink location, we tried to handle this by placing the rocks on the ice the night before curling. Besides often causing ice to form on the running surface, it also caused major indentations in the ice surface. At the new ice, Chaparral has asked us not to place the rocks on the ice before our games. Over the summer, the July skills competition became very difficult due to warm temperature of the rocks.

Tim has arranged with Chaparral to install a freezer for our rock storage. The freezer installation is planned for later this month, and should allow us to have “cool rocks” for our games. We will make use of a freezer that Chaparral had stored at one of their other locations. The club will pay for installation, and be responsible for electricity and repair costs. I think we will find that the expense is well worth it.

Regarding ice equipment, over the summer Bill & Justin repaired some of the hacks that had been damaged. The club has also acquired 20 more sliders for general use, as some of our older sliders have worn out. Prior to the TOB, we will be looking to acquire a measuring stick.

One of the areas I would like to address this season is the length of our games. Over the past two seasons, we have averaged 6 end games. I think this has can be attributed to the late start of games. Part of this was the time needed to complete the ice preparation. Consequently, we usually only started games around 10:00 AM.

This season, now that the rings and lines are already present in the ice, preparation time will be reduced. As well, with the use of a freezer, the rocks should not require work to remove ice on the running surface. Now if everyone can just adjust their arrival times to around 9:00 AM and help with ice preparation, we should be able to start our games at 9:30 AM. This allows 2 ¼ hours of curling time. If players can hustle a bit during our games, completing each end in 15 minutes, we should be able to have 8 end games.

As mentioned in a previous blog, we are investigating the possibility of a weekday evening league, on a once per month basis. Chaparral Ice has not been all that receptive to the idea. They want to rent ice out on a regular, weekly basis. However, if evening ice time is available, we may be able to rent it occasionally. Watch emails for more details on this.

A note on the Texas Open Bonspiel. We have been negotiating with Chaparral Ice on this event, especially over the cost for ice time. The bonspiel has tentatively been scheduled for the 2009 Memorial Day weekend. We hope to finalize negotiations this month. Once complete, we will hold a bonspiel organizational meeting, so watch for the emails. This event will require a major team effort, so volunteer assistance from everyone will be needed. I am confident our club can make this the best TOB ever.

In preparation for this, we are considering a mini-league after our regular season ends after March/2009. This mini-league would allow play and practice in April & May with your TOB rink. Again, plans are tentative, so watch your email.

We look forward to another season of curling. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, complaints ( please be gentle ), good jokes, or anything else you want to pass along, feel free to send them to me at president@lonestarcurlingclub.org. I look forward to seeing everyone again at our events this month! Good Curling !!!

Intermediate Curling Education Session

2008-08-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hard as it is to believe, September is almost here, and with it the start of the 2008/2009 curling season for the Lone Star Curling Club. Can you believe that our club is embarking on its third season !!!

As part of this season’s startup, we are going to hold an intermediate curling education session. This will be held on Sunday, Sept. 7, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM at the Northcross Mall ice facility. This will be a chance to reconnect with everyone, and to brush up on your curling skills.

A number of our experienced ( and in a few cases older ) members have volunteered to help with the training. This session is designed for people who have some experience with curling, and are interested in upgrading their curling skills or addressing curling problems they have found.
The training will be organized into centers, including:

Delivery
Sweeping
House strategy

You will be able to rotate through any or all of the centers during the session, as they will be fairly informal.

To help us prepare for this education, we would like know the areas where you need coaching. Examples could include:

I am having trouble consistently hitting the broom
How can I get more weight on my shots
I keep falling over when I slide out
I have trouble keeping up with the rock & sweeping
How can I determine the best turn to call for a shot

Please let me know by email ( president@lonestarcurlingclub.org ) if you plan to attend, and what areas are of interest to you.

The cost for the session will be $20.00 per curler. Please plan on arriving around 9:00 AM to help with the ice setup.

We look forward to seeing everyone there.