Curling

winter sport · team game · ice · strategy

Heavy granite stones. Players slide polished granite rocks called stones across the ice. Each stone is super heavy and smooth, and teams take turns sliding them toward a circular target called the house.

Teams of four. Two teams play against each other, with four players on each team. Each player gets to throw two stones per round, so every team uses eight stones total.

Scoring the center. Points are scored based on whose stones end up closest to the very center of the target after everyone has thrown. The closer your stone is to the middle, the more points your team gets!

Ends, not innings. A curling game is divided into rounds called ends, kind of like innings in baseball. Most games have eight or ten ends, and each end is complete once both teams have thrown all their stones.

Teamwork wins games. Curling is all about strategy and teamwork, players have to work together to place their stones perfectly and sometimes even slide stones to knock opponents' rocks out of the way.