INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A niche winter sport is sliding back onto the Indianapolis Canal this winter. The Indianapolis Cultural Trail brought back Curling on the Canal for its second year.

The program is a partnership between the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and the Circle City Curling Club.

Open curling started with the new year, but the Circle City Curling Club has been giving lessons since December.

Amy Marisavljevic, planning and public programs director for Indianapolis Cultural Trail, says year two has had a successful start.

“This is a pretty unique opportunity,” Marisavljevic said. “This is the only synthetic curling rink that we have here in Indiana. We have had a lot of interest. We’ve had people come from a little over an hour away to come down and try this.”

This year Curling on The Canal is introducing a Beginners League. Registration for teams of two opened on Thursday. It kicks off on Jan. 12.

It’s mostly for bragging rights, but there is a trophy at stake.

“If you’re interested in getting a little bit more competitive in curling and trying to go a little bit further, this is the perfect place to start,” Marisavljevic said. “We’re excited to start our new beginning cur curling league here shortly.”

While Olympic curling is known for loud yelling and sweeping, this version doesn’t use a brush.

Instead, it’s played on a shorter rink with synthetic ice, that doesn’t require sweeping away ice droplets.

Chris Gross, a Circle City Curling Club member and instructor for Curling on the Canal, says it’s open to all ages.

“We’re here to help provide our expertise and teach everyone how the sport goes” he said. “[We teach] how scoring works, since it can be a little bit confusing. [It’s] pretty easy, especially once you have these people here to help you.”

A full-sized playing area can be up to 130 feet long. These rinks on the canal are about 30 feet long.

Also, the playing pieces in the full-sized version of the sport, known as stones, are a lot heavier. They weigh, on average, about 42 pounds.

In the scaled-down version, they are light — weighing about 5 pounds.

Marsavlijevic calls it the “flag football version of curling.” It’s meant to be a more approachable version of the game to teach the basics.

Cassie Gross, another CCCC member and curling instructor, says they want to grow the game.

“We’ve definitely had some conversions in our club from the trail,” She said. “The Cultural Trail has been very nice to us. [It] allowed us to be the ones that are out here spreading the love. It is fun and it is very, very, very engaging. We love it.”

Curling on the Canal runs through March 2. It’s located at the Vermont Street Plaza at 414 W. Vermont St.

Open Curling Hours

• Monday – Saturday
  • 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Sunday
  • 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Hours may change depending on staffing and weather
• Free to drop in

Learn to Curl

• Sundays
  • 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
• Runs until March 2.
• Free to join

Beginners Curling League Dates

• Sundays: 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Jan. 12
  • Jan. 19
  • Jan. 26
• 30-minute matches
• Teams of two
• $30 to sign up