Offical and Confirmed
It’s offical. At this weekend’s Put In The Plug Party (the name refers solely to plugging in the chiller and making the ice and is also symbolic - the ice has been there for at least a week) we met our club “buddies” who handed us our official Philly Curling Club nametags. It’s so social a sport that everyone is supposed to wear nametags at the club so its easier to get to know people and remember their names. I could be worng, but I think it’s also customary to wear them when visiting other clubs (which would explain why the club name is also on there).
They ought to come up with some sort of pinning ceremony to do at the party to sort of initiate new members and introduce them to the new members. Maybe make them walk barefoot across the ice and solemnly swear to uphold the honor of the game? I’ll have to pitch that to the membership committee.
We got to the party a bit too early. The “cocktail hour” was 6-7:30 and by a veritable perfect storm of flukes, we actually got there right at 6. There were very few people there…none of the scant few people that we knew, and we had not yet received our nametags, making us feel conspicuously noobish. As the drinks flowed and more people came things improved and we began meeting more and more people.
Some interesting tidbits I picked up: curling is SO social that its pretty much compulsory for the winners to buy the losers to drink and to sit around and talk for a bit after the match.
Few new curlers buy their own equipment. Now the gear is by no means cheap, but its not super expensive, and the cost seems justifiable compared to always having to scrounge at the club for key equipment, especially sliders and grippers. People seemed surprised that we had ordered equipment. Mike points out that having clean shoes is important (debris on the ice can cause unpredictable behavior - another benefit to sweeping) so he would probably buy a new pair of sneakers anyway and the cost of those plus a slider would likely be as much as a cheap pair of curling shoes. In fact, the club recommends buying new shoes and using them only for curling, even if they are not curling shoes.
Curlers trade club pins. When you visit another club for a bonspiel (curlers call their tournaments bonspiels) it is customary to bring a bunch of your club’s pins and trade your pins for pins from other clubs.
2007 marks the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia Curling Club. Special commemorative club pins have been made and there is also badging on the ice.
Only in the last 10-15 years has PCC really learned to manage ice. Prior to this, the club ice was not so great and hindered curlers’ abilities.
The PCC used to be a “closed” club with membership requiring sponsorship. At some point, an aging club population decided to open up membership to walk-ins and the club now enjoys a sizable membership across a wide range of ages.
A lot of engineers curl.
My first match is tonight. I have not thrown a stone since about April. Fortunately my equipment came today and my shoes fit, so I won’t have that holding me back.
I will post a report. There will probably be no pics unless X comes but I have a feeling she needs to work on her ‘ween costume.