Lake Forest Curler Heads to World Championships in Denmark

Laurie Rahn remembers laughing at the filmstrip presentation of some new sport called curling.

had just opened in the late 1960s and was trying to generate interest among youngsters with presentations at churches and schools.

If Rahn (her maiden name is Walons) was not sure what she was getting into, her parents were. They joined a church league and her father volunteered to run the junior program, and that included Laurie.

“So I went along with it and soon got hooked on what would become a lifelong passion,” the wrote in an email.

Sport Takes Her Across the Ocean

In April, curling will take Rahn to a Scandinavian country for the second time in four years as a member of the first senior women’s curling team the Northbrook-based will send to a world competition. Along with fellow curlers Pam Oleinik, of Brookfield, Wis., Stephanie Martin, of Barrington, and Julie Denten, of Northbrook, the foursome will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the weeklong competition, April 14-21.

The quartet qualified by winning the U.S. senior women’s nationals in December, and last weekend tuned up by participating in a bonspiel (tournament) in Washington, D.C. Oleinik and Rahn have competed on the international level before as part of a team at the Senior Worlds in 2007 and 2008, claiming the bronze in Edmonton, Alberta, and advancing to a tie-breaker in Vierumaki, Finland, respectively.

“We have a very strong team this year and expect to do well,” Rahn wrote. “We also expect to have a fabulous time meeting and competing against curlers from all over the world who share our love of the sport.”

Camaraderie, Social Tie Unique to Sport

That is just one reason why Rahn still is competing in the sport in her 50s. When her father was still alive, there were three generations curling in her family, and her two sons, now in their 20s, still play.

“The camaraderie makes you feel a connection with all curlers from all backgrounds and all parts of the world,” she said. “Broomstacking, or socializing after each game, is an integral part of the sport and unique to curling.”

Rahn will be vice-skip on Team USA in Denmark, giving her a multifaceted role of thrower, sweeper and calling shots as a backup to Oleinik, who is skip.

“The strategy makes it intellectually stimulating,” she said. “Curlers like to call it ‘chess on ice,’ particularly in the sense that when calling shots you are always anticipating your opponent's next move, and the next one, and the next one. I also like the challenge of finding options after the stone is thrown when it doesn't do exactly what you had planned: a quick decision to start sweeping can cause a stone to change its path and salvage the shot.”

Sport is Like ‘Chess on Ice’

Curling is very different from other ice sports. Unlike speed skating, ice-skating or hockey, curling is not about the speed or agility with which you move on the ice. Like bowling or golf, it is about the form of your throw and the controlled effort with which you spin the stone out of your hand and across the ice.

“The physical delivery of the stone is very satisfying when done right, and a competitive curler is always evolving and perfecting his/her delivery,” Rahn said.

The game is played in teams of four; each person takes turn throwing the stone while two other teammates sweep it down the ice. The goal is to get your stones closest to the center or “belly” of the rings, located 150 feet down the ice.

According to the team’s coach, Joni Cotten, two very strong sweepers can actually cause a stone to travel 15 feet further as they sweep vigorously in front of it, creating a pathway of slightly melted ice. 

Like a golf course, the conditions of the ice can change at any time, Cotten explained. The skip’s job is to guide the sweeper, while the sweeper helps the captain determine how fast the stone has left the hands of the thrower.

A Real Commitment

Since October, the foursome have practiced or played in league games two to three hours a day, five to six days a week. 

“It’s a huge commitment, big money, you’re away from your families a lot,” said coach Joni Cotten, who competed in curling at the 2002 Olympics.

When they travel to Copenhagen, Team USA will compete against teams from 14 other countries — including Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Canada, where some of the world’s best curlers originate.

The team hopes to make it to the playoffs, but coach Cotten is realistic about their chances.

“It’s a humbling game,” she says. “You can have a really good game one night and then the next night you’ll have a really bad game.”

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