About us
Curling in Albany, NY dates back to the year 1866. According to records and historical pictures, a curling club played on the frozen lake at Albany's Washington Park until it disbanded in 1902. The current Albany Curling Club was established in 1955. The club is conveniently located, within 5 minutes of major highways. We are a two sheet club with approximately 180 members.
We are a non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting the sport of curling: a game of skill, strategy and good sportsmanship for people of all ages. We have men's, women's or mixed leagues every evening (except Saturday). The club also runs adult daytime leagues, and a youth curling program for children and teenagers on Sundays. Our club members are encouraged to participate in tournaments, or bonspiels, taking place at other clubs. We in turn also host interclub bonspiels, as well as in-house competitions limited to our members only.
We pride our club on its warm friendly atmosphere and invite anyone who would like to see our club and learn more about curling to contact us at TheAlbanyCurlingClub@gmail.com to arrange a visit. We host Learn to Curl events, open to the general public, several times a year, including at the beginning of our season in October and mid-season in January.
We are affiliated with the Grand National Curling Club of America (GNCC), a confederation of curling clubs that are located in the northeastern United States, the United States Curling Association (USCA), the national coordinating organization, and the United States Women's Curling Association (USWCA). These groups sponsor competitions at the regional, national, international and Olympic levels.
For more information, see our FAQ Page.
About curling
Curling is a sport in which players from two four-player teams take turns sliding stones across a sheet of ice toward a target area, known as "the house." Each team attempts to score points by getting its stones closer to the house center, or "the button", than the other team's stones.
Points are scored at the conclusion of each "end" (similar to an inning in baseball). The team with the stone closest to the button wins that end and is awarded one point for each of its own stones lying closer to the button than the opponent's closest stone.
The first three members of each team also sweep their teammates' stones. Vigorous sweeping melts the ice in front of the stone, allowing it to travel farther and straighter.
The fourth member of the team is the team's "Skip". The Skip stands at the far end of the sheet of ice and controls the strategy of the game. This includes determining where each stone should land, whether it should move any of the already placed stones and when to sweep. The Skip throws the last two stones of the end.
More so than in many other team sports, good sportsmanship, often referred to as the "Spirit of Curling", is an integral part of curling. A match traditionally begins and ends with players greeting each of their temmates and opponents with the phrase "good curling". At the conclusion of the game, the two teams traditionally gather together off the ice to socialize over a beverage. Tradition dictates that the players of the winning team purchase their opponents' beverage.
For more details on how to curl, check out these curling training videos.
Old maps show an outdoor curling sheet on the grounds of the grandiose and historic Van Rensselaer Manor in North Albany in the 1800s. The mansion was located very near the Hudson River. The Albany Curling Club’s records and artifacts show that the original club, named the Albany City Curling Club, was created in 1861, around the commencement of the American Civil War. It was one of the first curling clubs formed in the Northeastern United States. Members curled outside in a roped off area of Washington park. In 1888 the Albany City Curling Club was playing in a shed-like structure at 507 Washington Avenue. It had windows that could be opened to allow circulation of freezing air to create ice. An old photograph shows curlers sporting high beaver hats and derby hats, and wearing rubbers and boots. Another curling club, the Empire Curling Club, also had curling facilities in the city of Albany during this period at 258 Yates Street.
Curlers on Washington Park Lake
Members of the Albany Curling Club around the year 1900 (The photo's caption mentions the "Yates Street Rink", which may have been the Empire Curling Club at 258 Yates Street. Other copies of the photo are captioned as being at the Albany Curling Club's facility at Washington Avenue and Quail Street.)
This ticket was found in the Albany Curling Club archives in 2010. It was in a binder dating back to the 1977-78 curling season.
The Albany City Curling Club disbanded in 1908. Much interest remained, though, and there were other clubs in the nearby area, including a club in Schenectady, a club in Troy, and one at the Watervliet Arsenal, just north of Albany. In 1955, the past president of the Albany St. Andrews Society, living just outside Albany in the town of New Scotland, convened a meeting of 20 Albany men curlers at his home. The current Albany Curling Club was incorporated that year. Members curled at the Schenectady Curling Club.
In 1958, the group grew to approximarely 43 members. 38 men donated $100 each and purchased 4.8 acres just outside the City of Albany, where the club is today. The group started a membership and fundraising campaign which resulted in a building fund of around $70,000. Architect Elton Morrow drew up plans for a two-sheet club with a basement. McFarland Construction Company built the facility, which opened in late 1958. The entire facility was bare cinder block-- later painted. There was no bar, as it was a BYOB club with no SLA license.
Left to right are Kenneth Campbell of the McFarland Construction Co., contractors for the building; Don Noord, Tom Carse, Fred Brasure, Allen Zaring, Ralph Holmgren, president of the club, with shovel; Schuyler McCammon, John Horton, Al Griffin, and Paul Briggs.
Groundbreaking, as reported in The Knickerbocker News, 1958.
Scheduled leages started in January 1959. Membership flourished to about 75 with a mandatory $100 bond purchase. Only male members were allowed to curl. The bond sales were discontinued in later years and bonds were redeemed where necessary. Many bond holders turned their bonds back to the club treasury.
Women also started curling in early 1958, forming the Albany Whisks. Leagues for women and mixed leagues were formed, as well as men’s leagues. Women have had full voting membership and status in the Club since July 10, 1989, and the first woman club president was Mrs. Marilyn Cline.
Plate glass and warm room facilities were doubled in size in the early 1970s. In 2009 those facilities were again expanded and the Club was extensively refurbished.
List of Presidents and Pillars of the Club
Sources:
Anthony C. Brankman, "A Brief History of the Albany Curling Club," May 2010.
Austin Cline, notes, 2004. Austin Cline was a member of Albany Curling Club from 1957 through the 2000s.
