Feb 12, 2026 - News

Curling slides into the spotlight in the Valley

Jessica Boehm

A young man in a gray cap, glasses, and dark sportswear crouches on the curling ice holding a purple broom, surrounded by curling stones with red and yellow handles near the target circle. — The Coyotes Curling Club teaches people how to curl. Photo: Courtesy of Darryl Horsman

Forget pickleball. The trendiest sport in the Valley (at least for the next few weeks) may be the one played with brooms on ice.

Why it matters: Every Winter Olympics, curling becomes the "toast of the town" as the world watches men and women sweep away at the ice in a highly strategic — but not super strenuous — competition, Coyotes Curling Club board member Darryl Horsman told Axios.

The intrigue: The Tempe-based club sees a dramatic spike in players every four years, which usually sustains it until the next Olympic season, Horsman said.

He told us he thinks people are infatuated with curling because it allows them to see themselves as Olympians.

What they're saying: "I don't have the physique of a gymnast. I don't have the quads of a luge person," Horsman said.

But, drink a beer, slide out on the ice and throw a curling stone? That, he told us, anyone can do.

Between the lines: Curling requires more skill than most people realize from watching on TV, but it really is an accessible sport in many ways, he said.

Horsman told us it doesn't require constant training or expensive gear, and newbies tend to take to it quickly.
There are Paralympic, blind and deaf curling leagues in the U.S., he said.

If you go: Coyotes Curling Club offers frequent "Try Curling" classes and lessons at its Tempe rink.

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Curling slides into the spotlight in the Valley

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