It will be a flurry of brooms and stones on the ice in Everett for the next week. The U.S. Curling Nationals got underway Saturday at Xfinity Arena and runs until Saturday, February 18.
Seattle's award-winning curlers from the Granite Curling Club are hosting the tournament. The best men's and women's curling clubs in the nation will take to the ice.
Curling is a competitive sport, especially at this level, but it’s also social. Teammates talk back and forth throughout each match, and the fans bring cowbells to ring while they cheer.
The Granite Curling Club is hosting the national championships for the first time. It's a well-known club boasting more national awards than any other U.S. curling team.
Club spokesperson Charlie Anthe attributes that success to the 50-plus year history of the club. And then there's the club's location.
Anthe: "Quite honestly our proximity to Canada. So, curling is very popular in Canada, a significant number of our members are from Canada and so they definitely bring a lot of energy and interest in the sport to the club."
Anthe said the sport is growing in the U.S. For people who have never tried it, Anthony said they will have a practice space at the arena during the championships.
As for the competitors, one of the teams competing this weekend will eventually move on to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
