One of the world’s most out-there sports, invented by—who else—the Scots, is having its roaring moment. Every four years, the Winter Olympics sweeps curling briefly back into the spotlight, but this year was a bit different.

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The Olympics may be over, but curling fever isn’t. Bay Area residents may not realize that the only space dedicated to curling in California is, in fact, in Oakland. And within it the brooms are flyin.’

Sadie Scheffer, vice president of the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club, initially connected to curling in 2023, via an invitation to join a friend’s curling lesson. She was not especially enthused. But then she discovered that the game was actually all about strategy—and she loves strategy. The curling “skip” is the team captain and “I think like a skip,” she said in a phone interview.

In her experience, curling requires physical strength, muscle memory and the ability to adapt quickly. But it’s also a sport that accommodates all ages, said Cindy Ward who, at 61, was looking for a new sport. She just joined the club in November and is an enthusiastic convert. Worth noting: Olympic curler Rich Ruohonen, at 54, is the oldest-ever American Winter Olympian.

“It requires finding your balance—and getting used to the cold room!” Ward said, laughing. She plays in a beginners league where everyone has been curling five years or less, and added that the club offers modified versions for people who cannot squat down, along with wheelchair curling.

Ward thoroughly enjoys what is called in curling “broomstacking.” This socializing tradition, named for the original practice of stacking brooms by the fireside after a match, is considered as important as play itself. “I love the camaraderie,” she said, noting that curling players tend to be friendly, polite people, and that the club is a great place to make new friends.

The club offers a Sunday Morning Brunch League and a Trivia League. “Post-Covid, people are looking for social outlets,” Ward said, comparing interest in curling to interest in pickleball, bocce ball and even billiards. But the best comparison? “It’s like chess on ice.”

Longtime club member Jonathan Ochcoco heads up the Sunday brunch bunch and, like Ward, praises both the accessibility and the community-building of the sport. He joined in 2011, before the club had its present location, when it operated at the Oakland Ice Rink. The same place, he pointed out, that women’s figure skating champion Alysa Liu practiced as a child skater.

Ochcoco’s brother, who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, took him along to a curling lesson during a visit which, well, swept him off his feet. Now he plays twice a week in addition to Sunday mornings, travels to “bonspiels”—curling tournaments—and also plays for the Filipino senior men’s team. Yet another important involvement for him is the LGBTQ league of which, he said, there are only seven in the country.

“My nephew started curling when he was four,” said the proud uncle, who now teaches curling to the “little rockers,” ages 7-12. “Some of them have grown up and now beat me!” He isn’t surprised at the surge of interest in the sport. “In 2018 the men’s team won gold, and many more curling clubs opened up,” he said. “And this year the games are being shown in prime time,” greatly widening the audience.

All those interviewed spoke of curling’s traditions of kindness and adherence to etiquette, Olympic squabbles aside. “We call our own fouls, and the teams agree on the score with each other,” Scheffer said. The appeal is drawing many new recruits. “It’s a way to make a hundred new friends.”

The club offers programs seven days a week, including “Try Curling” events, beginner lessons, and weeknight and weekend leagues.

San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club, 8450 Enterprise Way, Oakland. bayareacurling.com