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| - How awesome was it to score an invitation to the Hotter than Hell Bonspiel. It was close to being as hot as hell outside, but inside the Coyote Curling Club, it was as cold as ice.
The curling club is located in a fairly industrial section of Tempe, just off the R143 between the I10 and the 202. It is pretty easy to find, just look for the triangular flags flying at the entrance.
I have always been curious about curling. When I heard there was a curling club (in the desert no less) and they had a bonspiel this weekend, I was excited to attend. I dropped in for one of the final rounds in the bonspiel. I walked in and immediately felt comfortable and at home. A lady named Kelly was sitting at the first table. I asked her if I needed to pay anything and that opened the door to her explaining EVERYTHING about the game to me. I learned so much about the game of play as well as strategy for winning. I would ask questions, and Kelly or whoever was sitting in the vicinity would jump in and discuss the game with me. I know people make fun of curling, but it is fascinating to me.
The curling sheet is contained in its own room with 4 areas for game play. During my visit, there were 4 games going on at once. I could observe the games from the viewing studio. I observed different styles of play. Some teams like to play draws (ie land in the house) and some teams like to play knockout (knock the other team's stones out of the house).
In the viewing studio, they have nice comfortable couches to rest on or you can sit at bistro style tables. They also have bird's eye view cameras of each house (ring/targets). The club seems to be working on getting a snack bar off the ground. When I went, it looked like all the snacks were free. This is a great place to go this summer to just watch a game or practice game and learn about the game of Curling.
If you are interested, check out their website to see what the schedule is like and drop in. There is no admission fee.
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