TORONTO, Ont. – It's best described as chess on ice and, boy, do they love curling here—especially the LGBT community.
Gay curling has existed locally since 1962, when a handful of curlers started playing. It has since grown into two full leagues boasting 250 members, with waiting lists of 25-plus players wanting to join.
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Curling, Toronto style. Photo by Ross Forman
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Gay curling within Canada is big time, as showcased by the 3rd Annual Canadian Gay National Curling Championship, set for Feb. 15-17, 2008, in Winnipeg. A team from Montreal is the defending champion, and Vancouver claimed the first title, yet Toronto remains the largest club in the country.
'It's really hard to explain curling to the general public if you don't actually go and watch it, much like pro football can be difficult to understand for those who don't follow the sport on a regular basis,' said Murray Leaning, 39, president of both of the local gay curling leagues, Riverdale and Rotators.
'I really don't know how you'd explain curling to the common person,' said Leaning. 'But, when you throw a rock, as the name implies, it curls, or it should curl if you've done all of the right things. The sweeping can do one of two things; it can either help stop or minimize the curl, or it can help extend the rock out, meaning, make it go farther.'
Curling is a sport that combines cardiovascular conditioning with brainpower. Teams of four must employ strategy, offensive and defensive. Integrity, a sense of fair play and friendly competition are all hallmarks of this icy sport. It is also one of the few sports where men and women of all ages can compete equally.
The Toronto leagues consist of 200 men and 50 women. Leaning said almost all participants are gay.
'Curling is an extremely social sport, so it's an opportunity to meet other people, see your friends and ultimately work together as a team,' said Leaning, who is single, gay and lives in Toronto. 'After play, tradition has it that the winning team buys the losing team a drink. And the losing team reciprocates with the second round.'
The Riverdale Curling League meets locally on Sundays, while the Rotators play on Wednesdays. Both leagues welcome novice and experienced curlers, and sponsor yearly bonspiels ( curling matches ) .
'The Wednesday league only has a certain capacity for growth because it only has one time slot: 9 p.m.,' Leaning said. The Wednesday league has grown from 10 to 14 teams, though only 12 teams play every week; two teams have a bye every week.
The Sunday league has doubled its size; 50 teams now play.
On Sundays, there also is a competitive group, 'which allows some of the stronger players to get together and play a more competitive game of curling,' Leaning said. 'We're at the point now where neither league can grow any further.'
Thus, Leaning confirmed they are considering adding a third league on a third night.
Leaning said he is not surprised by curling's popularity within the LGBT community. 'The nice thing about curling is it's a good combination of a physical and mental activity,' he said. 'There's a lot of strategy involved with curling. It's not just about hitting rocks; it's about where do you place them and how do you set up a good defense for your opponents to try to crack, not to mention playing to your team's strengths and the other team's weaknesses. So, there's a lot of thinking involved.
'It's a simple game in many ways, but a complex game in many ways, too.'
How physical is curling?
During the course of a regular game, players will walk at least one or two miles as they're following the rocks, he said.
Both the Riverdale and the Rotators Leagues play at the Royal Canadian Curling Club, located minutes from downtown Toronto.
'A lot [ of the players ] did [ curling ] as kids, perhaps when they were in high school. Curling was the social focus in a lot of small towns across the country, so now they are just re-discovering the sport as adults,' said Leaning, who has been the local leagues' president since 2001.
'I think curling will just keep growing more and more within the LGBT community.'
The Toronto leagues have had gay curling teams from the United States come to Canada to compete, including teams from New York, Minnesota and Michigan.
