Curlers eye nationwide expansion

Curling Pilipinas looks to spread the sport around the country after the men’s team clinched a historic gold medal in the ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China last Friday.

Curling president Benjo Delarmente said setting up facilities in the Philippines would entice Filipinos to try out the sport and eventually have players to be brought to international events.

Delarmente, who also served as the national team’s alternate player, proposed introducing floor curling where the sport will be played on a mat instead of inside an ice rink.

“I think building a facility is one of, at least one, hopefully all over the country, or like at least one in Luzon, northern Luzon, one in Manila, one in Cebu, one in Mindanao. So, we hope that we get some, you know, some exposure from private sector, from the government, to be able to build these facilities in these areas,” Delarmente said.

“In the meantime, while we’re trying to raise the funds and the capacity to build these facilities, we first plan to introduce curling in its dryland form. So, there’s a version of curling called floor curling where it sort of replicates curling.”

“There are like sort of replica stones, but instead of the actual stone, there are wheels. It’s the same rules for floor curling, and this is what they do in other tropical countries.”

The Philippines’ victory in the Winter Asiad should serve as an inspiration for Filipinos to try the sport.

For one, the Filipino-Swiss quartet of Alan Frei, Enrico Gabriel Pfister, Marc Angelo Pfister and Christian Patrick Haller all work full-time jobs despite competing in the Asian Winter Games.

Marc and Enrico, who represented Switzerland from 2009 to 2023, work as a construction worker and electrician, respectively.