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The Nutmeg Curling Club is located at 123 Glenwood Ave. next to the legendary Wonderland of Ice, making that pocket of Bridgeport a destination for winter sports.
Although it has taken some time for curling to capture the American imagination, it is one of the most unusual sports in the world. In a sort of shuffleboard on ice, a player tries to slide the stone closest to the center of the target at the far end of the ice while the rest of the team uses brooms to sweep the stone to go faster, slower or turn. When each side is out of stones, the points are tallied up.
“The Nutmeg Curling Club has actually been around since 1960,” said member Marianne Roggemann. “But we have been in Bridgeport at the Wonderland of Ice since 2006."
At that time, Wonderland was building a second wing and refurbishing its existing rink. Wonderland of Ice General Manager Lisa Fedick heard that the club was searching for a permanent surface after doing stints in Darien and Westchester County. Fedick had the new space available, and the rest is curling history.
At Nutmeg, there are all types of leagues for men, women and students, from casual to competitive. There are also many Learn to Curl sessions on the calendar, so novices can learn the basic rules and intricacies of the unusual sport.
“Curling really isn’t that difficult to learn, but there aren’t many people who are familiar with it, so the sessions are helpful,” said Roggemann. “Also, the Winter Olympics have helped increase the sport’s popularity and generated a lot of new interest.”
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