A lot of the time, you can try something new and end up liking it. I had never tried curling before on real ice and it was really fun. My class had been working on curling in phys ed and we went on a field trip to Ardsley Curling Club. I had only curled on the wood floor with fake stones on wheels. The delivery was different, sweeping made a difference on ice too. My expectations were different from the reality of what actually happened. I also realized that some things were easier than others. It was difficult, but also so fun! Some things were the same and some were different. The positions had no similarities whatsoever. Also, the coaches helped us understand and helped us play better in the game.

At school and at the curling club, some things were the same and some things were different. At school, we used plastic stones that were really light. But at the curling club, the regulation stones were 42 pounds. At school, we curled in the gym so we were on the wood floor. At the curling club, we were on ice so it was really slippery. At school we were given a carpet square to act like the ice but it wasn’t a perfect comparison. It was a lot harder at the curling club because Some of my expectations were that the rink was going to be really long but the curling houses were really big so it wasn’t as long as it seemed. I still had thought, wow this is really long. The delivery was harder but once you got the stone moving then you can get some momentum. You really have to put a perfect amount of force when releasing the stone. Sweeping helps to make the stone go further but more than half of the shots were still short. There was a really funny time when my friend had a great shot but I swept too much and the stone went just over. Another funny time was when my other friend had a great shot that would be perfect with strong sweeping, and I fell. “Ugh.” Welp, there goes that perfect shot, and my confidence, and my broom.  It was really hard but me and my team won! I was the one to make it in the house which was really cool. I accidentally swept too much and the stone went over the house. These are some of the similarities and differences between school and the curling club, and my expectations and the reality. 

At the curling club. We had coaches help us. The coaches were really nice and helped us figure out how much to turn the stone, how much to sweep, and how to do the delivery on ice. The coaches’ help really paid off because when we played in the actual game, we ended up winning. I had my friends in my group so it was really fun. We played against my other friends and it was a good match up. We all had good shots and some takeouts. When the other team had gotten a stone into the house, it wasn’t looking too good for us. Fortunately, my next shot was closer to the button than the other teams’. I had chest bumped with my friends and we all said “Let’s go!” The game was awesome. Before we even started practicing everything, me and my friends tested out the ice and I fell down right away. During the game, I ended up saying things like “SHORT” just to sound like I knew what I was doing. The positions in curling were kind of hard to understand. I was the first one on my team to deliver the stone. Then I swept twice, and then went to the other house to tell the sweepers which way to sweep. It was hard but everything paid off. Everybody had to work together to try and get the stone into the house. On my shot, my friends swept really well and they were the ones to put it perfectly in the house. It felt really good to know that I had just scored a point for my team! I’m so happy our class went on this trip.

 Overall the trip was so awesome. I’m so happy to have learned a new sport and enjoy it! It was pretty cool to have such nice coaches and they helped us thoroughly understand the game of curling in a way that we can both play it, and enjoy it. I had so much fun learning the right sweeping techniques, and the delivery. The difference between pushing off of a mat in the gym, and pushing off of a foot holder on the ice. Lastly, my expectations, versus the reality of the club. It was a really fun trip and I encourage everyone to always try something new.