It was the quietest curling game, the rocks sliding down the ice with no sweepers to accompany them, nobody shouting for anyone to hurry hard.聽 It was the first Iron Man Curling Bonspiel held at the Yorkton Curling Club, a first in the area, taking on a completely different style of curling.
The rules are a bit different from your regular curling game. The teams are smaller, only two members per team. There鈥檚 no sweeping before the hog line. In each end, the people on one end of the ice throw four rocks to the other, at the half-way point the players on the leading team switch sides. Games are relatively fast, taking under an hour.
Neil Weinmaster with the Yorkton Curling Club says it鈥檚 something other clubs are doing, with a few variations on the rules, but this is a first for the club. Since it was the first time, they kept it relatively simple 鈥� every curling club and tournament has their own variation on the rules for the new format, including the Olympics.
After the first game, Weinmaster says that it was a fun start to a new program, and the speed of the game was one of the defining factors of the tournament.
鈥淚t plays you out a little bit because you鈥檙e going so fast.鈥�
One advantage to the new format is the low barrier to entry. It鈥檚 much easier for someone new to town to find a single partner rather than a full curling team.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e new or want to get started curling, you just need to find one other person, and you can get out and get started curling,鈥� Weinmaster said.
This is just the start of planned regular Iron Man play in the region, as Weinmaster hopes that they will have it as part of the regular league play in 2018. The goal of the bonspiel is to introduce the area to this variation on the sport before it becomes something regular, and try to generate a bit of interest in what is a unique form of curling.
鈥淚 think everyone here had some fun, and that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�
