116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
For curlers, Iowa ice is Iowa nice
CEDAR RAPIDS - Four members representing the Hollywood Curling Club came more than 1,800 miles to slide stones and maybe see Iowa's biggest frying pan.
They are among 32 teams - 16 male and 16 female - from around the nation that have descended this week on Cedar Rapids, giving a big boost to the city's nascent curling scene.
The Cedar Rapids Curling Club didn't form until after its founder moved here in 2012. And already the group has played a key role in attracting the 2015 USA Curling Arena National Championships. Mayor Ron Corbett threw the first stone Wednesday night. Competition runs through Sunday.
Paul Mendoza, Ryan Berdan, Matt Gamboa and Cameron Ross, who represent the Hollywood Curling Club of Los Angeles, were impressed with what they saw at the Ice Arena.
At their own rink, they play on hockey ice - not the carefully prepared curling ice.
'The ice is really nice,” Gamboa, 33, said. 'They did a nice job. Usually they only get 30 minutes to prepare it. They got three days.”
This Hollywood team formed in 2008. Mendoza, 33, and Gamboa began curling with their wives after watching the sport during the 2006 Olympics. After their wives formed a women's team, they decided to start their own team, adding Berdan and Ross.
They feel the Olympics had a strong effect in making curling more popular. Curling is played by sliding granite stones on ice toward a target called the house. Teams receive points by positioning their stones closer to the center of the house than the opposing team. Players intentionally put rotation on a stone so that its path bends, or curls. Players sweep in front of the stone to increase the distance to the target or influence the path.
The visiting group strongly encourages people to pick up the sport. Most clubs supply beginners with equipment and most people pick up the game no time.
'You can teach someone in an hour,” said Ross, 23. 'But it takes years and years and years to get really good. It's not as easy as it looks on TV.”
One of the reasons they enjoy curling is the chance to see new places.
'You get to travel and go to places like Cedar Rapids,” Gamboa said. 'We want to find the biggest ‘something' in Iowa.”
So they're considering a side trip up to Brandon, home of the roadside attraction that boasts the state's largest frying pan.
l Comments: katherine.bauer@thegazettecompany.com
Martha Marple, of Cedar Rapids, looks on at her stone delivery while Anne York and Erin Archambeau, of Cedar Rapids, ready their brushes during Cedar Rapids Curling Club's match against Aksarben during the opening day of the USA Curling Arena National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Thursday, July 16, 2015.(KC McGinnis / The Gazette)
Phil Engen, of Cedar Rapids, yells for teammates Anthony Zangerle and Jim Archambeau, of Cedar Rapids, to brush during Cedar Rapids Curling Club's match against Broadmoor during the opening day of the USA Curling Arena National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Thursday, July 16, 2015.(KC McGinnis / The Gazette)
Anthony Zangerle and Jim Archambeau, of Cedar Rapids, brush ahead of the stone during Cedar Rapids Curling Club's match against Broadmoor during the opening day of the USA Curling Arena National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Thursday, July 16, 2015.(KC McGinnis / The Gazette)
Jim Archambeau and Mat Ripperger, of Cedar Rapids, brush ahead of the stone during Cedar Rapids Curling Club's match against Broadmoor during the opening day of the USA Curling Arena National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Thursday, July 16, 2015.(KC McGinnis / The Gazette)
Mat Ripperger (right) looks on as Anthony Zangerle and Jim Archambeau, of Cedar Rapids, brush ahead of the stone during Cedar Rapids Curling Club's match against Broadmoor during the opening day of the USA Curling Arena National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena on Thursday, July 16, 2015.(KC McGinnis / The Gazette)
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