CURLING TOUR SLIDES INTO PORTLAND
For anyone living near Portland, Oregon, the chance to try the Olympic sport of curling arrives this weekend! The World Curling Federation (WCF) is advancing its “Olympic Celebration Tour” (OCT) with an upcoming stop at the Evergreen Curling Club (ECC) January 23-25th.
Olympic Curling Bronze medalist and World Champion, Viktor Kjäll, will be joining the tour from Sweden, and will be accompanied by Darrell Ell, Level Three Curling coach and the Competitions and Development Officer for the WCF.
Launched in 2013 with the support of the Foundation for Global Sports Development (GSD), objectives of the OCT include coaching community members who are interested in curling, helping local curling clubs bring in new members, and spreading the fun and joy of curling. “I hope they will all see the enjoyment opportunities in this game,” says Mr. Ell. “Curling offers new friendships to make, opportunities to travel the world, and many fitness benefits. Curling is also great for couples, as you and your significant other can play a sport where you both are on an equal footing.”
The weekend’s activities kick off Friday, January 23 with Mr. Kjäll and Mr. Ell visiting Portland-area schools to talk with students about curling, followed by a sold-out event to meet and curl with Mr. Kjäll.
Saturday the 24th features a full day of exciting events with Mr. Kjäll and Mr. Ell at the ECC in Beaverton. Activities include:
- Curling Class for Kids (9am-11am, $10)
- Try Curling! One-hour sessions (12pm-6pm, $10)
- Meet the Olympian Party (6pm-8pm)
The club will wrap up the weekend with an Olympic Celebration Microspiel (tournament) on the morning of Sunday the 25th. Registration for the tournament is $20, but participants of Friday’s or Saturday’s events will receive a free pass. Register for events here.
Bruce Irvin, president of the Evergreen Curling Club, is excited for the Olympic Celebration Tour to visit the Northwest. “The OCT stop in Portland is a fantastic opportunity to draw attention to the new Evergreen CC curling facility and the sport. There is no better way to get people excited about curling than letting them get hands-on experience with a clinic taught by a real Olympic medalist and World Champion like Viktor Kjäll.”
Events such as the OCT are successful in connecting would-be curlers with the sport. “It’s been so much fun to see curling grow rapidly in the Portland area. Since the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics the Evergreen CC membership has grown from just a handful of isolated Canadians and mid-westerners, to 100 when we opened the dedicated curling facility in 2013, to a thriving membership of 200 today, just two years later. And more than 1,000 new people try curling each year through clinics, corporate team-building events, open houses, the youth program and our web stream,” says Mr. Irvin.
GSD is proud to be a sponsor and participant of the OCT. This weekend will mark GSD’s second visit to one of the OCT’s stops, the first having been in October 2013 at the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club.Watch the video.
The Evergreen Curling Club is located in Beaverton, Oregon at 10950 SW 5th Street Suite #155. To reach the club, call (503)430-0910.
