New Age Curling

 Kurling

New Age Kurling is an indoor Winter Paralympic Inclusive sport predominately played on a ice rink 45 meters long and 5 meters wide using a target, the ‘house’, marked at each end.  The house consists of 3 rings which are generally coloured red, white and blue and act as a visual aid for aiming and judging which stone is closer to the centre. 

The smallest circle in the house is called the button.  blocks or Hacks are fixed at each end of the sheet to give the person delivering the stone something to push against.

The two lines between the houses are called  the hog lines.  The players must release the stone before they reach the first hog line and the stone must cross the far hog line to be in play.  The line behind the house is called the back line.  Once the stone crosses this line it is out of play.  

The line in the middle of the rink is called the centre line and is used by players to line up their shots.  

Curling is a fun and challenging game combining physical and mental skill.  It is one of the few sports where all ages, genders and abilities can be played together and against each other.  Two teams take turns to deliver stones down the ice attempting to get closer to the centre of the house, than their opponents.  Each team consists of four players called a lead, second, third and skip, who each deliver two stones in that order.  The skips are the team captains and direct their team on which shots top play.

When all sixteen stones have been played, an end of curling is complete. A team scores one point for each stone which is closer to the centre of the house than any of the opposition’s stones.  Only stones touching the house can be counted.

The team that scores in the previous end plays first in the next end.  This means that the non-scoring team gets the advantage of having the last stone.  Games are played to a time limit usually between 2-2.5 hours or until an agreed maximum number of ends are complete.  The winner is the team with the most points at the end of the game.

New Age Wheelchair Kurling

New Age wheelchair curling is similar to the able bodied version of the sport, however sweeping the ice in front of the stone is not used in wheelchair curling.  Wheelchair curling was first introduced during the 2000 World Handi Ski Championship in Crans Montana, Switzerland.  Curling is now played in 25 countries.  Each game consists of 2 teams of four players over eight ends and must include both male and female players.  Curling can be played on any floor with a smooth flat surface.

Wheelchair players can also use the aid of a kurling ramp, which is similar to a Boccia ramp and the delivery stick or pushers allow the delivery of the stones from a standing  position or wheelchair and are available for those with mobility issues.

The governing body of the sport is the English Kurling Association or World Kurling Federation if you compete at Paralympic or higher level.

New Age Kurling Session 23rd March 2018