Good afternoon/morning teachers and classmates. My name is Paiton Gusba and I am in Ms Smiths grade 3/4 split class. Today I am here to do a speech about curling.
Curling is a winter sport that is played in curling clubs and arenas across the world. I have been curling for 2 years now and I started curling because it looked fun when I went to watch curling live with my mom.
Watching curling helps you understand the rules best , but I have to stand here and talk about something, so let me tell you about curling.
Curling is a sport that originated in Scotland in the 16th century. Unlike hockey curling doesn’t have periods , it has 8 or 10 ends. Their are 4 players on each team. The lead, second,vice and skip. Each team throws a total of 8 rocks, 2 rocks each. Before each game I play we toss a coin to decide what team will go last. Having the last throw in curling is called the hammer , and trust me you want that.
At the start of each game the lead will throw their rock . the second and vice sweep the rock , and the skip tells the lead where to put the rock in the house. The house is the big circle on either end of the ice made up of 4 circles. One called the 12 foot, the next is the 8 foot, the next is the 4 foot and finally the button. To score points in curling your team needs to have their rocks closest to the button at the end of the end.
Now , back to the game! The lead slides out of the hack and lets go of the rock to let it slide to the place the skip wants it to go. The sweepers stand to wait at “the hog line” for the player to let go of the rock, and then they can follow. The sweepers follow the rock and follow directions from the skip. There are 3 reasons why the skip may yell to sweep the rock ; the first is for speed , the second is to keep it going straight, and the third is for it to curl.
Some pieces of equipment that you may want to have if you try curling are : curling shoes, a gripper, a broom and definitely warm clothes. Some people think you need your own rock, but you really don’t.
In Canada there are 2 BIG curling bonspiels. one is the Scotties Tournament of Hearts that ladies can compete in, and the other is the Tim Hortons Brier that men can compete in. Each province has their own tournament to decide who the best team is to represent them in these tournaments. Winning the Scotties or the Brier gives your team the ability to represent Canada at the Worlds Tournament.
Curling isn’t just special to me , my whole family loves it. My mom and dad met at curling many years ago and some of you may have met my younger brother Brier. Brier got his name because he was born during the Brier in 2017 . My cousin Brad Gushue won the Brier that year in 2017 and has since won 2 more times. So , if your tv is on a sports channel and curling comes on, don’t change it because looks boring. Give Curling a chance , it could be more interesting than you thought.
Thank you.