In a first for the MoPac region, a women’s ice crew worked on the ice at a playdown event.
The hard-working volunteers began by doing practice ice prep the day before the event to become familiar with the process. They then pebbled, scraped, swept and mopped in between games for the next three days to ensure optimal ice conditions for the men’s arena playdown event held last month at the Lake Tahoe Epic Curling Club (LTEC).
LTEC representative, 2002 Women’s World Curling Champion and ice crew member Edith (Edie) Hazard summed up the work: ”Exciting, stressful, tiring and super fun! All words describing working on the women’s ice crew for the MoPac Men’s Playdowns. Great teamwork!”
The region was in need of an ice crew because a number of its planning committee members and most supporters, who typically work on ice crew, were already playing in the men’s playdown event. Not wanting to tire the players with ice crew duties it seemed logical to find other volunteers. Thus it fell to MoPac Arenas Committee member, Katie Feldman, to assemble the ice crew. Curlers from LTEC enlisted but more were needed so Katie reached out to her own squad at Wine Country Curling Club as well as other female members who were available for the event days. Soon a crew emerged.
Ten days prior to the event USA Curling’s Membership Manager, Lauren Rich, also agreed to attend as part of the history-making crew. Lauren brought her knowledge as a World Curling Academy Ice Technician courses instructor (one of only a few in the country). Lauren also brought her experience as a member of USA Curling ice crews which handle major U.S. events. The MoPac Arenas Planning Committee was ecstatic to have her expertise.
After the experience Katie Feldman mused that icemaking is a brilliant way to see the game in a new perspective. Working as ice crew for her, “[p]roves why curling is a game of inches. You really see it when you work on the ice. It teaches you about the game.” Fellow ice crew member, Amy Putnam, agreed and added, “As a curler, it’s easy to ‘blame the ice’ until you get the opportunity to ‘do’ the ice. Every curler should have the opportunity to do the ice and appreciate how much of an art it truly is to get good ice.”
Others also showered Lauren with gratitude for her guidance and instruction, “I learned a tremendous amount of knowledge from Lauren in a short time” commented ice crew member Melissa McGuire. “What a wonderful and special opportunity to make ice for the play downs. Lauren Rich was incredible and so generous with her knowledge. We couldn’t have done it without her! I learned so much!” beamed ice crew member, Laura Lunetta.
Lauren was appreciative as well, “Everyone was so eager to learn and share; bringing in new members throughout the weekend was easy and seamless. It was exciting to work with such an enthusiastic team and so fun to see everyone teach and support each other over the weekend. Katie did a great job capturing the team effort in her video.”
Lauren added that she was proud of the whole crew for working incredibly hard all weekend. “We had some quick turn arounds and we pulled it off every time! (I know it was an all-female crew for ~10/12 draws over the weekend, but I don’t want Hans [Jones – LTEC’S ice volunteer] to be left out! He helped out with a couple of draws on Saturday and he was a big help.)”
When asked if there were any difficulties with the work a number of the crew talked about the weight of the Ice King. Lowering such a scraper onto the ice can require physical strength which some of the crew found challenging. (Watch Lauren in the video!) However, the crew members found the work to be largely rewarding and humbling.
“I always knew what hard work and dedication the ice crew possesses, I have a new appreciation of their [ice technicians’] role in making ice for all of us curlers. ” added Laura. Well said. However in this case these ice crew members also have the region’s respect and appreciation for their work.
Watch the crew at work in this 1 ½ minute video!
If this video or article has you interested in ice tech work, USA Curling will be holding a Club Ice Tech Assessment session for on-ice assessment and discussion of the basic skills required to maintain curling ice in a club setting. The session takes place October 11-12, 2024 at Evergreen Curling Club. Registration is open through Sept. 30th. Certain prerequisites necessary. See details here or visit the World Curling Academy for online courses.
Interested in helping MoPac at other events? If you would like to volunteer for ice crew or any other role at a MoPac event, we would love to hear from you. Reach out to information@mopacca.org
