Learn to curl with IVCC course

Illinois Valley Community College’s Continuing Education Center is offering instruction in a novel competition that has a long history in the Illinois Valley.

Learn to Curl will be offered in four sessions from Nov. 18 through Dec. 9 at the home of Illinois’ oldest curling club in Triumph. Classes start at 6 p.m. at the club, which is located at 3926 E. 758th St.

Members of Waltham Curling Club will teach techniques such as delivering the stone, sweeping and strategy. There are even options for people with knee or joint issues.

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area, scoring points for getting closest to the center. The name derives from the curved path, or curl, induced by the stone’s rotation. The path can be influenced by sweepers with brooms or brushes who accompany the slide down the ice.

The activity was brought to the Illinois Valley by immigrants from Scotland in the mid-19th century. Waltham Curling Club was established in 1884 and moved in 1937 to Triumph, where an indoor curling arena was built. Curling became an Olympic sport in 1998.

Tuition costs $75. The class ID is 18190. To register, call the IVCC Continuing Education Center at 815-224-0427 or register online at ivcc.edu/enroll.