BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — If you’ve been watching curling in the 2022 Winter Olympics, you can try it yourself at Kansas City Curling Club’s new spot now open in Blue Springs.
KSHB 41 News Anchors Lindsay Shively and Daisha Jones got some quick curling lessons themselves on the new ice.
Club members say curling is easy to learn and difficult to master, but all ages of curlers can quickly enjoy it.
Right off of Interstate 70, you’ll find the place Kansas City area curlers have been dreaming about for decades.
“I get chills every time I walk in here and it’s not because of the cold,” said DeeAnn Wlodarski, president of the Kansas City Curling Club.
She gave KSHB 41 News a tour of the facility before and after construction finished on their dedicated curling ice, now just a curling stone’s throw away for the more than 100 active members of the Kansas City Curling Club.
They hope their dedicated ice just for curling will give them the room and time to grow the club.
No more renting time. No more sharing the ice.
“No hockey, no figure skating, no open skates, no skates. So we can get our ice to be as flat and as perfect as we possibly can, which is what the sport requires,” Wlodarski explained.
Kevin Bye loves the community he has found since he started curling.
“A friend of mine in high school was a two-time Olympic curler and when he found out I was in a wheelchair, he said Kevin, you’re a North Dakota boy, you’ve gotta get your butt back on the ice," Bye explained.
Bye said for him, the dedicated curling ice is a chance to stay in Kansas City, practice more often, and even pursue his hopes of someday competing in the Paralympic Games.
“I was getting ready to sell my house,” Bye said.
When Dennis Cavinaw helped found the first era of the Kansas City Curling Club in the 1980s, he said they had limited time to curl and that made it tough to add members to the club.
“We could only curl on Monday night or Saturday morning at eight in the morning,” he said.
Now he’s excited to see more people try it at their new location.
“It’s something I never thought I’d see. It is really wonderful," Cavinaw said.
Wlodarski said the best way to check out curling is to sign up for a “Learn to Curl” or “Olympic Experience” on their website.
You can also join a beginner’s league, which starts next week.
Wlodarksi said the response has been great with over 100 “Learn To Curls” scheduled and more than 60 signed up for the beginner’s league.
