New Silicon Valley boom: Curling, post-Olympics

Curling is trending in the US.  

“It's everyone's favorite sport 2 weeks every 4 years,” says Jay Diamond of the Silicon Valley Curling Club.

Even more so this time around, thanks to Team USA’s surprising gold medal run in PyongChang.  Half a world away, in the Bay Area, the curling business is booming.

“We've been having 10, 15 people come each week,” says Silicon Valley Curling Club Treasurer Jeremy Malerich.   “As soon as the Olympics come we had 60 last week, 80 tonight, already sold out for next week and we have people knocking down the doors for the next two weeks after that.”

“We're watching the Winter Olympics all the sports look really exciting,” says Lincoln Atkinson of Montain View.  “You want to try all of them but it's tough to go dabble in halfpipe or luge.”

“I decided I was gonna be the quad queen,” adds Amanda McKillip of Mountain View.   “Or the curling queen.  So I decided curling is a little more realistic.  Attainable.”

A lot of Americans see curling on TV they make light of it.  They dismiss it as a novelty sport, shuffleboard on ice.  But there's a lot more to it than that.

“The general public is just starting to see this odd sport where they see brooms, they think it's light housekeeping,” says Diamond.  “They don't realize it's integral cardio it's strategy.”

“It's more of a team sport,” adds McKillip.  “You kind of always see individuals curling and it looks like a fun team dynamic.   (question) What's your biggest fear out here?  Slipping and falling.  Yeah, easily.”

Yes, there was plenty of that.  But also plenty of fun - which, after all, is what it’s all about.  Maybe America is finally warming to this long underappreciated sport?

“It's not underappreciated by people that curl,” says Diamond.  “People that curl totally appreciate it.”