Kin are slick at icy sport

BY KAREN DIETLEIN
STAFF WRITER

The boys sat at the kitchen table, munching an after-school snack and discussing their favorite sport: curling. They used terms that would confound even the most hardened sports fan and debated strategy like major generals.

Calvin and Kyle Reedy, parishioners of St. Teresa of Avila Church in Albany, are members of the Albany Curling Club's "Little Rocks" division.

"Curling is very fun, and it takes a lot of skill," said 10-year-old Kyle. His brother, 13-year-old Calvin, nodded in agreement and said, "You have to really try to know what it's all about. It's a lot different watching it than playing it." Casting a grin at Kyle, he continued: "Besides, I like bossing around my brother."

"Even though he can never get a stone to the house!" replied Kyle.

Olympics

The little-known sport of curling originated in Scotland. Although it is played competitively across the world, it is often considered a curiosity by outsiders, one that caught the notice of American sports fans during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The object of the game seems simple enough: Four players, using a nylon-covered broom, push a 42-pound granite "stone" across the ice to rest closer to the "tee" than the opposing stone.

But the brothers caution that winning at curling often isn't that easy. "The Olympics made it look so easy!" noted Calvin.

Curling mavens

Kyle explained that curlers need to know how to release the stone in just the right way that it will either come to a draw (a resting position) or a takeout (knocking an opponent's stone out of scoring position and replacing it).

Players must learn how to control the "curl" of the stone on the ice, which is sprayed with warm water so that the playing surface isn't smooth but pebbly and bumpy.

Curling teams are made up of four players: the "skip," who stands near the tee, and calls to the "first," "second" and "third," determining the strategy the three other players will take when releasing the stone.

Skip is Calvin's favorite position. "Because you're at the other side, it's hard to judge how fast the stone is going," he said. "Sometimes, your judgment is wrong."

Traveling

A favorite part of the game for the brothers is the occasional bonspiels, or tournaments, held at other curling clubs in the Northeast. To date, the brothers have been to such sites as Nashua, N.H., and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

At bonspiels, the members of different curling clubs often mix skill levels and localities for more fair play. A tournament tradition -- besides the "free food," said Calvin -- is the exchange of club pins, which both boys look forward to eagerly.

Calvin showed off an Albany Curling Club hat decorated with dozens of colorful gold pins. At the last bonspiel in Nashua, he traded Albany pins for souvenirs from the other clubs.

Sportsmanship

According to Jeanie Reedy, the boys' mother, youth curling is an "inclusive sport, more about having fun, about skill-building. Sportsmanship is the name of the game," so curlers are expected to act civilly, shake hands and treat one another with respect.

"There are no parent attacks in curling," joked Calvin.

According to Mrs. Reedy, Kyle had been involved with youth basketball but gave it up because it took away too much time from curling. When not on the ice, the boys are involved with Little League baseball, go to wrestling tournaments and play instruments; Calvin often plays violin for St. Teresa's music ministry.

Fanatics

Calvin and Kyle began to curl when a friend invited them to an open house at the Albany Curling Club. "We said, 'Wow, this is an interesting sport,'" and decided to sign up for the "Little Rocks" division, which numbers about 20 boys and girls from elementary to high school.

Since they began to curl, the brothers have drawn friends -- and relatives -- into the sport. They took their cousin, seven-year-old James Starr, to an open house, and the second-grader at St. Teresa of Avila School just returned from the bonspiel in Nashua, where his team won two games.

Colleen Starr, James' mother, said that she didn't realize how "big" curling would become for James.

"He enjoys it," she said. "He really gets a kick out of it. I'm glad his cousins got him into it. I guess I didn't realize how unusual curling was!"

When asked about Olympic dreams, Calvin's face lit up. "Oh, yes," he said, to which Kyle replied, "First things first -- let's get to Juniors!"

(2/27/03) [[In-content Ad]]