A sport that is sometimes referred to as "chess on ice" arrived in Duncanville over five years ago, and is now looking to expand north.
The D/FW Curling Club has a league that competes at the Duncanville Stars Center from November to April each year and is hoping to move into Farmers Branch, drawing participants from Flower Mound, Highland Village and surrounding areas.
"We recruit from all over the Metroplex, and it is really anybody that we can get," club president Judy Willingham said.
"It does not matter what age the person is or where they are from or their ability. You don’t have to be the biggest or the fastest or the strongest to be good at curling — it’s a finesse sport."
Curling teams have four players per side, and Willingham said the club has members as young as eight all the way up to 75 years of age.
Willingham said the founding of the club was, in one way, spawned by the arrival of some new residents.
"Some people had moved down here from Canada who had some interest in the sport," Willingham said. "They really wanted to be able to curl again, and that is how it really got started."
Willingham said the team has had solid membership since its inception, but is looking to get new players as well.
"We have struggled to grow, but we are ready to grow," Willingham said.
"It’s hard, in that we play at the same time that the Cowboys do. We have about 50 members, but we would like to double that. Part of the reason that we have not been able to grow as quickly is because we are in Duncanville, and that is why we are looking to expand ... we want to be a little more centrally-located."
Willingham said her league had 16 teams last season.
The D/FW Curling Club will be hosting an open house at 2 p.m. on July 6 at the Dr Pepper Star Center at the corner of Texas 67 and Main Street in Duncanville.
The cost is $10 per person.
"It’s called a Learn to Curl," Willingham said.
"It’s an opportunity for people to get out on the ice and learn a little bit about the sport and get the chance to play a little bit."
Contact Willingham at 817-933-1837 for more information.