trycurling.com
TryCurling.com is the official beginner gateway for people who want to learn curling, book a first session, and find a clear path into a local club.
What is TryCurling.com?
TryCurling.com is run by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, which trades as Scottish Curling and serves as Scotland’s national governing body for the sport.
The site turns a simple question—“Where can I try curling?”—into a searchable list of sessions, rinks, clubs, and beginner programs.
Its main audience is a person who has seen curling but has never played it.
The site also helps parents, wheelchair users, people with disabilities, and adults who want a social team sport.
What can a new player do on the website?
The main search tool lets visitors choose a distance and filter events such as Try Curling, Become a Curler, junior curling, wheelchair curling, disability curling, floor curling, and off-ice events.
The rink directory lists 21 venues, with most located in Scotland and a small number in England.
Each rink page can show its address, local details, available sessions, and booking links.
Availability changes with the ice season, which normally runs from September to March, so the small summer event list in July 2026 is expected rather than a sign that the program has stopped.
Several October 2026 entries are already visible, including sessions in Edinburgh, Hamilton, and Stranraer, while the homepage offers an email alert for new dates.
What happens during a curling session?
A beginner learns how to push a stone across the ice, sweep in front of it, aim at the circular target, and work with teammates.
The site’s simple playing guide explains that two teams take turns and score by placing stones closer to the middle of the house than the other team.
A normal team has four players, and each player sends two stones during an end.
Visitors do not need to buy curling gear because rinks provide stones, brushes, and sliders.
The clothing advice asks players to bring warm, loose clothes and clean trainers with flat rubber soles.
Delivery sticks are also available for people who need to send a stone while standing or sitting in a wheelchair.
Is curling suitable for different ages and abilities?
Try Curling presents the sport as an activity that people from age eight to over 80 can play, although the exact age rule may differ by session.
Its claim of broad access has real support because Scottish wheelchair curling has active clubs at ten rinks and includes shorter forms of the game for players with less strength.
Curling also mixes thinking with movement, so success does not depend only on speed, size, or power.
This makes the website’s focus on fun, teamwork, and social contact more convincing than a message built around hard exercise.
What makes the website useful?
Its strongest feature is the full path after the first lesson.
A visitor can move from a short Try Curling session to the coached Become a Curler program and then into a Gateway Club.
A Gateway Club gives new players a friendly place to practise before they enter a more competitive club.
This path solves a common sports problem because people often enjoy one trial lesson but do not know what to do next.
The site also carries strong trust signals because Scottish Curling was founded in 1838 and now represents about 10,000 members in around 550 clubs.
Where does the website need improvement?
The homepage says sessions are offered at more than 20 rinks across the UK, but the service feels mainly Scottish and should make that geographic focus clear at once.
Many rink listings say “No upcoming sessions,” so a visitor may think nothing is available before reading the seasonal notice.
The site could reduce this problem by placing the next release date, nearest open session, and email alert directly beside every empty result.
Prices, lesson length, age limits, access details, and cancellation rules should also appear in one standard box on every event page.
The homepage statistics appear to depend on animated counters, which can display as zero when scripts fail or when search engines read the page, so plain text totals would be safer and easier to understand.
Is TryCurling.com worth using?
Yes, because it does more than explain curling and gives a beginner a practical route from curiosity to regular play.
Its greatest value comes during the autumn and winter booking season, while summer visitors should join the alert list and check the rink directory for newly added dates.