Pittsburgh Curling Club

Pittsburgh Curling Club
Current logo & pin design of the Pittsburgh Curling Club
Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Arena Island Sports Center
7600 Grand Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15225
Information
Established 2002
Club type Arena
USCA region Grand National Curling Club
Sheets of ice Five
Website http://www.pittsburghcurlingclub.com

The Pittsburgh Curling Club (or PCC) is a curling club located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The PCC is an arena curling club that was founded in 2002 with 12 members, and as of 2018 has nearly 100 members.

The club plans to build a four sheet dedicated ice facility in Stowe Township during summer and fall of 2018 and expects an opening in 2019.

Origin

The Pittsburgh Curling Club was founded in May 2002, after months of emails and discussions between several ex-pat Canadians and local Pittsburgh residents.[1] The twelve founding members rented ice for 26 weeks at Robert Morris University (RMU) Island Sports Center to start offering Learn-to-Curl sessions. Initially, the members had to draw the curling sheet lines and circles by hand prior to playing their games.[2] But as of 2006, the lines are painted on the ice prior to the start of the season.

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Curling Club received its 501(c)(3) status as a charitable organization.[3] The mission of the club is:

...to teach, develop, promote and encourage the sport of Curling; to develop youth and adult programs that lead to local, national and international competition; to coordinate and develop interscholastic competition; and to teach the sport to youth organizations as well as to interested adults by creating public awareness and appreciation for the sport.[4]

Facility

The PCC curls at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center, which is on Neville Island, west of Pittsburgh, and has two indoor rinks (Clearview and Olympic) and two semi-enclosed, multi-purpose rinks (Stadium and Garden).[5] From late fall to early spring, the PCC uses the Stadium rink. In September and April, the warmer weather causes the PCC to move to the indoor Olympic rink. The PCC's summer bonspiel TropiCurl is held in the Clearview rink.

Leagues and Programs

In the 2017-2018 season the club ran its Can-Am and Vampire leagues on Saturdays, and held multiple Learn-to-Curl sessions for hundreds of participants following the 2018 olympics.

Leagues

The PCC Can-Am League runs from October to March. Currently it is structured as an open league and takes the ice at 9:30PM each Saturday during the season. As an open league, any combination of men, women, youth, junior, and/or wheelchair curlers can form a team.[6] The club also runs a Vampire league session from 11PM each Saturday till 1AM Sunday which offers opportunities for additional pick up games and practice.

Learn-to-Curl Sessions

Introductory Learn-to-Curl sessions are held on unused ice sheets during the league and also in September and April outside of the regular league season. Sessions include delivery and sweeping instruction taught by PCC members, followed by a shortened curling game between the participants.[7]

Bonspiels

The Pittsburgh Curling Club hosts an annual bonspiel.

  • TropiCurl: held in early July, it's an "open" format bonspiel (for teams made up of any combination of men, women and juniors) that attracts curlers from all over the United States and Canada.

TropiCurl

Named for a pun on the word tropical, TropiCurl is generally held around the July 4th weekend. As an arena curling club, the summer is the only time the PCC can rent enough ice in order to do all of the pre-bonspiel ice preparation (i.e. two days of flooding and scraping). Without this preparation, the ice, which is typically used for hockey and figure skating, would not be suitable for bonspiel curling. With the arena being able to fit five sheets, TropiCurl hosts 48 teams for four days of curling, making it one of the larger curling events in the United States.

Past TropiCurl Winners

  • 2017: Da Beers, (Chicago CC / Pittsburgh CC) Skip: Colin Rittgers, Vice: Michelle Rittgers, 2nd: Aaron Horowitz, Lead: Neill Turner
  • 2016: Team Couch, (Potomac CC, Laurel MD / Columbus CC, Columbus OH / Mayfield CC, Cleveland OH), Skip: Melvin Shaw, Vice: Courtney Shaw, 2nd: Eric Johnson, Lead: Julia DiBaggio
  • 2015: Draw the Four, (Glendale Curling Club – Ontario) Skip: Simon Ouellet, Vice: Danielle Breedon, 2nd: Todd Breedon, Lead: Betty Calic
  • 2014: Team Scott, (Hamilton Victoria) Skip: John Scott, Vice: Judy Scott, 2nd: Jim Neales, Lead: Christina Neales
  • 2013: Team Miller, (St. Georges) Skip: J. Miller, Vice: L. Berwick, 2nd: M. Berwick, Lead: S. Penton
  • 2012: Team Burchesky, (New Pond Curling Club) Skip: D. Burchesky, Vice: S. Burchesky, 2nd: J. Burchesky, Lead: J. Burchesky
  • 2011: Team Murray, (Potomac Curling Club, Laurel, MD) Skip. Sean Murray Vice, Nick Datlowe 2nd, Jeremy Vanderhouten Lead, Melissa Fox
  • 2010: Team Murray, (Potomac Curling Club, Laurel, MD) Skip: Sean Murray, Vice: Nick Datlowe, 2nd: Jeremy Vanderhouten, Lead: Melissa Fox
  • 2009: Team Moretto, Richmond Hill Curling Club [8] Skip: D. Moretto, Vice: B. Gillispie, 2nd: P. DiClemente, Lead: B. Woolnough
  • 2008: Team Epping, Tam Heather Curling Club Skip: J. Epping, Vice: K. Smith, 2nd: S. Smith, Lead: S. Collins
  • 2007: Team Durrant, Plainfield Curling Club Skip: D. Durrant, Vice: A. Dubberly, 2nd: M. Dubberly, Lead: B. Peskoff
  • 2006: Team Inglis, (Brampton Curling Club) Skip: Danielle Inglis, Vice: Jeff Inglis, 2nd: Mark Inglis, Lead: Lori Inglis

Affiliations

References

  1. ↑ Price, Karen. "Curling gaining in popularity in Western Pa." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Mar. 14, 2008.
  2. ↑ Klimovich Harrop, JoAnne. "A Sport that gained fame at the Salt Lake Olympics is just a stone's throw away" Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Nov. 3, 2002.
  3. ↑ "Non-Profit Report: Pittsburgh Curling Club" GuideStar
  4. ↑ "Pittsburgh Curling Club Bylaws". Pittsburgh Curling Club Website
  5. ↑ "Athletic Facilities - RMU Island Sports Center" RMU Athletics Website
  6. ↑ Gibson Allen, Erin. "Family sweeps into ice sport" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Oct. 5, 2008.
  7. ↑ McCaffrey, Kate. “Curious Sport of Curling Sweeps Away Winter Blahs” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 18, 2009.
  8. ↑ Mitsch, Pat. "Curling gets some ice time at Neville Island" Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Jul. 6, 2009.
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