Curling clubs in Spain:<\/strong><\/p>\nJaca Ice Club (Aragon)<\/p>\n
B-52 (Madrid)<\/p>\n
Barcelona Curling Club (Catalonia)<\/p>\n
Le\u00f3n Curling Club (Castilla y Le\u00f3n)<\/p>\n
Curling Club Berga (Catalonia)<\/p>\n
Harrikada Winter Sports Club (Pa\u00eds Vasco)<\/p>\n
Ice Club of the Pyrenees (Aragon)<\/p>\n
Pisuerga Ice (Castilla y Le\u00f3n)<\/p>\n
Puigcerd\u00e0 Curling (Catalonia)<\/p>\n
Iceberg Curling (Basque Country)<\/p>\n
Iparpolo Curling (Basque Country)<\/p>\n
Jacetania Curling Club (Aragon)<\/p>\n
Los Compadres Curling Club (Andalusia)<\/p>\n
Txuri-Berri Ice Club (Basque Country)<\/p>\n
Rioja Curling (La Rioja)<\/p>\n
Sporting L\u00b4Olla (Catalonia)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
16 years have passed since this review of curling in Spain during the Olympic Games. of Vancouver 2010. Since that time, many things have evolved, although not enough. <\/p>\n
In the wake of the usual push that this sport arouses during the Winter Games, Spanish curling longs to take the step forward that would be necessary to try to dream of getting closer to European powers such as Switzerland, Italy or the Scandinavian teams: increase the number of practitioners and dream of having their own facilities<\/strong>. <\/p>\nIn Spain there are currently 16 clubs registered in the Spanish Ice Sports Federation. The clear dominators in several of the modalities have been, for years, the Hielo Txuri-Berri club from San Sebasti\u00e1n. Brand new champions of Spain in both the male and female categories.<\/p>\n
The best rink to practice curling is Jaca due to the preferential treatment of the ice\u2014curling ice is not the same as hockey or skating ice, since pebbles do not exist in these sports. The Huesca town welcomes curling people for a few months after analyzing their impact on the city.<\/p>\n
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The Spanish teams reap the best results in their history<\/h2>\n
The need to be well-informed causes one of the most particular characteristics of this sport. The best captain, the best lead, etc. does not go to the national teams. But the national colors are defended by the members of the best club as a whole. Hence A first step to evolve would be to increase that number of 16 clubs<\/strong> registered.<\/p>\nFollowing the restructuring of the competition system carried out by World Curling, The Spanish teams are performing at a high level in different modalities<\/strong>. The Spanish men’s team has been promoted to the first European division and will compete in the B World Cup. The women’s team will fight for promotion in the C World Cup. In the mixed doubles, the pair formed by Oihane Otaegi and Mikel Unanue even fought for a place for Milano Cortina 2026 in the pre-Olympic and, finally, the mixed team (4 players) has won even more than one medal in recent years. <\/p>\nIn addition, the level in the junior category is increasingly higher. This is demonstrated every year in the technical training days for those under 21 years of age organized in Jaca by the RFEDH in which the clubs send their best talents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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“And what tomorrow? There is no plan for curling in Spain”<\/h2>\n
One of the people who best knows curling in Spain for decades is the player and specialized journalist Eduardo de Paz<\/strong>. For Eduardo, Spanish curling is experiencing its best moment in terms of results, “it is undeniable”, but he regrets that everything is due to the particular efforts of those involved in it – his son is a member of the men’s team.<\/p>\n\u201cObviously there are no professional players and in the absence of aid from the administrations they have to make a living to reconcile their jobs with training and preparing for tournaments. What is going to happen when these players retire?<\/strong>\u201d, advances De Paz.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople ask you what it would take to see an Olympic medal for Spain in the future and, honestly, We are light years away from that achievement.<\/strong>. “How are we going to win a medal in a sport that does not even have its own facilities to practice it?” he adds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Open days to sow the seed<\/h2>\n
The only way to envision a better future for curling in Spain is through increasing the number of practitioners. \u00c1ngel Garc\u00eda Mayor has been the curling commentator on RTVE and knows like no one else the situation of his sport in Spain and, above all, in Madrid. <\/p>\n
Through their club (B-52) and the Madrid federation they have already scheduled two open days at the Ice Palace in Madrid<\/a>one in March and another in April.<\/p>\n\u201cWe do this type of initiatives every year, but this year with the Games the requests have overflowed. There are more than 200 registrations<\/strong> and in each one we cannot accommodate more than approximately 35 because there is not material for so many,\u201d explains Garc\u00eda Mayor.<\/p>\nThe transfer of knowledge and fans by the clubs must increase to ensure a hopeful future. These days are currently scheduled in Madrid and there will be another soon in Benalm\u00e1dena promoted by the Los Compadres club.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a duty that the clubs have, to encourage initiation into curling for those who do not know it, but to do so We need the protection of the federations to have the locations<\/strong> and the management of open days,\u201d says the veteran player from Madrid.<\/p>\n\u00c1ngel’s wish is to return to the boom years in Madrid: \u201cIn the first decade of the 2000s We became 14 clubs in Madrid alone<\/strong>. We had two hours a week to have an entire rink like the Ice Palace to ourselves. So it was worth practicing this incredible sport because the rent was paid by many. Now there are only a few of us and we have to share the rink with the speed skaters,\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
40,000 euros as a minimum expense to think big<\/h2>\n
Sergio Vez is the Skip (captain) of the Spanish men’s team that recently achieved promotion to the first European curling division. Few like him know the costs and efforts required for a Spanish curler to compete at the elite level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are lucky to have a small help from the CSD and the Basque Government, without that it would be unfeasible to think about financing all our expenses in a private way. Each tournament you enter already costs you around 7,000 euros<\/strong>\u201dhe explains.<\/p>\nMost of the expenses go towards these tournaments, but a very significant sum goes towards traveling abroad to \u201ctrain and prepare for the competitions\u201d. “We are lucky to work on things that allow us to combine \u2013 through teleworking \u2013 our stays in foreign countries (mainly Switzerland). If we don’t go anymore it is because of money, time would not be a problem.”<\/p>\n
In a rough calculation, Vez estimates that less than 40,000 euros is impossible not to spend if you want to aspire to grow. All these expenses could be significantly reduced if there were facilities, at least one, in Spain and there was no need to travel. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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South Korea, the mirror in which to look at yourself<\/h2>\n
One of the examples of good curling practice today is South Korea. From being nobody to competing in the elite in less than 10 years<\/strong>. The Asians have been able to take advantage of the logical impulse offered by hosting the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games to sneak in and establish themselves in the best competitions.<\/p>\nThe secret is based on the investment in own facilities for curling practitioners – in Spain the investment is dedicated to sending players to countries with appropriate facilities – and the development of technicians, referees and even ice specialists. <\/p>\n
In Spain there are currently no exclusive courts for curling.<\/strong> \u2014and they don’t necessarily have to be very big\u2014practitioners have to share the ice with skaters and hockey players. With the high cost for clubs of renting high-caliber facilities and maintenance costs, and with the damage caused by training on a rink where the ice is not at all suitable for good curling practice.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is a misconception that a curling rink is very expensive to build and maintain<\/strong>. Large expenditures are not needed because a very large installation or monstrous cooling systems are not necessary. You just have to look at what is done in countries like Belgium,\u201d concludes \u00c1ngel Garc\u00eda Mayor.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n