Glacial Ridge Curling’s Adaptive Program began in 2011 and offers a one hour weekly class to area residents with special needs. All of the participants are either cognitively and/or physically challenged and range in age from the teens on into the seventies. They are ‘coached’ by volunteers from GRC who help them learn to curl with a physical aid, somewhat like a shuffleboard stick.

On the surface the class is simply a chance for the participants to get out, try something new and have some fun. It is all of that and more. The players have all learned that they are capable of doing something that they would never have thought possible before. Simply being on the ice is often a new and sometimes frightening experience, but a challenge they overcome. Learning to play a sport that most people don’t understand and being able to compete in a friendly, honorable way creates a sense of accomplishment and forms a bond between the players and staff.

In early 2022, Glacial Ridge Curling (GRC) hosted approximately 200 students from BBE, MACCRAY and Paynesville. GRC has also hosted Willmar, KMS and Litchfield in previous years. Our curling trainers and Club really enjoy sharing the sport with young people. We would love all schools in our region to have this opportunity. Due to the lack of ice time, we can only offer this during the day on Thursday. This limitation makes it difficult for schools to schedule student field trips.

GRC had two of our youth curlers excel in the sport to point that they competed in two National Championships in 2018. The success of these Curlers can be attributed to their learning to Curl with their families and participating in weekly leagues. GRC’s hope is that more ice time will foster more of this type of youth participation in a family oriented sport.

With the added ice time of a dedicated facility, GRC would like to see Curling become an option for physical education in the schools and college. Many communities with dedicated curling facilities have this program available. This opportunity would open the door to a sport that every generation in a family can enjoy together. GRC has had three generations of one family compete in our bonspiels

Glacial Ridge Curling (GRC) holds several Saturday nights of open curling sessions throughout our season. Because of our demand, the City of Willmar Rec Department has added Thursday noon to the schedule. The goal is introduce curling to anyone interested in learning about the lifetime sport of curling. GRC will provide trainers that will walk you through everything from the basics of curling through throwing curling stones. We think many new curlers that give it a try will fall in love with the sport, just like we do. All you need to come give it a try is a clean pair of tennis shoes. GRC provides all the curling equipment (curling stones, brooms, etc.) you need to curl.

Curling is a great family sport. You can bring out the whole family to curl on our open curling dates. Friends can gather and enjoy curling together as well.

GRC will have opening curling dates listed in the newspaper, on our website (GlacialRidgeCurling.org) and on our Facebook page as we get closer to the November start of our season.

Glacial Ridge Curling (GRC) has a total of three leagues over Wednesday and Thursday nights. Leagues last 13+ weeks starting in November each year. It’s a competitive and fun sport with great sportsmanship as its focus. Women and men compete together on the same teams. A wide range of ages play on teams together between 15 to 70+ age. It truly is a lifetime winter sport for all.

Our eventual hope is to add more leagues throughout the week when we have our stand alone curling facility built. We see opportunities to hold church and/or business leagues during our expanded schedule once the facility is open for curling.

Glacial Ridge Curling (GRC) annually hosts two bonspiels (curling tournaments) each year. Despite difficult circumstances related to lack of available ice time,, GRC hosted the 2013 U.S. National Mixed Championship, as well as the 2016 National Junior Championships. Both events drew glowing feedback. As such, the United States Curling Association (USCA) has contacted GRC about hosting future events on several occasions, but this is simply not feasible without a dedicated facility.

With a new stand alone curling facility, our plan would be to add regional and national bonspiels to our calendar. This would provide a big economic boost to our region. Travelers would stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants and shop in local stores