Curl Troy

What an impressive response in the first 48 hours of the website going live and using only Facebook and word of mouth 12 people have signed up showing their interest in bringing curling to the Miami Valley.  Keep it up!  Last weeks major project was getting the site up and running, and though it is not very detailed it does serve the purpose of being able to share what is going on and collect information from those who are interested.
 
I received a response from the U.S. Curling Association and they are sending us information and working to help us get started.  They have some possibilities for the acquisition or borrowing of some stones to help us get started as well as some contacts that may be able to help us personally.  In the long run we are going to have to eventually come up with the money to buy our stones outright.  My hope is that we can borrow some stones from some clubs during their typical off season (yes curling has a typical season from September to April and many clubs close down in the Spring and Summer) to get us started over the summer so that we can get our feet on the ground.  The next big step this week will be trying to form a board of directors to start the organization.  I will be working to find out the requirements for starting an organization in Ohio and attempting to put a board together.  I would love any information or assistance from people who have experience in these areas or would like to step up to the table.  If you fall in that category please send me an email through the contact us form on the site or leave a comment with your email. 
 
I also started a conversation with Hobart Arena about using their ice and it seems from initial conversations that they may need a little convincing.  They are currently looking through the schedule to see what kind of options may be available to us.  This is a critical negotiation as it will set the playing field for making this an affordable venture for everyone involved.  We need to be able to divide the costs among the curlers and still be affordable.  It seems right now that the arena's concern is with ice preparation and the time associated with it.  Arena ice is a much easier surface to maintain than curling ice.  Hockey players and skaters don't need a perfectly level surface to use the ice but curling needs as level a surface as possible.  This could mean changes to they way that they maintain their ice on a daily basis, and their preparation prior to us curling is much different than ice preparation for skating and hockey. 
 
So things are looking up and we have some difficult tasks ahead but hopefully we can get a group together soon.  With everyone's help we should be curling soon.
-Bruce