MISSOULA – Bagpipes played at Glacier Ice Rink for the opening ceremonies of the Big Sky Bonspiel. Curling as teams came from all over –not just Montana, but the entire U.S. — to take part in the event
"Going to bonspiels is pretty much the best way to learn I think because for one the level of curling is higher people are more serious than just doing your league curling and you play a lot of games. And so over and over again practice makes perfect," said Judy Tsiang whose group traveled from Bozeman to participate.
There were 36 teams split into two divisions at this year’s event. The Missoula Curling Club supplied beer and merchandise to each player and also hosted a Learn to Curl event for the public.
Tsiang said that despite the teams coming from different places there wasn’t any rivalry.
"There’s a certain politeness that is nice. Everybody’s really nice you know you just get on the ice and you say you know good curling shake hands and then at the end, it’s traditional that the winning team buys the losing team beer. So it’s just a lot of fun," said Tsiang.
As the sports popularity increases, they hope to raise enough funds to purchase their own ice rinks.
