George Karrys posted a wonderful advertisement for Curling and Australia back in April –> http://www.thecurlingnews.com/blog/australian-curling-wants-you/ 

Hugh and Steve received heaps of interest from many of you (many, many of you) around the world.  To help with answers to the common questions, here is a FAQ for the common questions:

Quick Summary.....

In Australia - there is no dedicated curling ice...in fact, the hockey ice we curl on is extremely poor for hockey. 
The National team does not play in in Australia, all training and competing happens overseas.... even when we have our national championships, we travel to New Zealand to play.
The National Team program is self funded - you need cash and time.  We have no money..only sunshine and opportunity.
Further details below. 

Short FAQ on Curling & Australia

I want to play Competitive Curling and represent Australia, tell me more?

We play in New Zealand a couple of times a year.    We practice and we have our Australian National championship in either Naseby, NZ or Dunedin, NZ. 

We also play once a year in the Pacific championships, which rotates the hosting country between the 6 member countries (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, NZ, Australia)

When a team is in the top 2 rinks in the Pacific Championships that qualifies the country for the World Championships.

The team frequently practices in New Zealand, Canada (and sometimes Europe) prior to key events.

Why do you curl, what is the goal?

The team’s goal is to play in the 2014 Olympics in Russia (we missed by one spot in 1998 and 2010)

http://sochi2014.com/en/ 

Will you pay me to curl?

We are 98% self funded – curling is an expensive hobby in a hot dry country like ours.   Our costs are approximately 12k-14k per year, per player.

How much time will I need?

You will travelling up to 6 weeks away overseas to train and compete – that is time away from your work and family.

To represent Australian in World Curling Federation events you must be a resident of Australia for 2 years, or be a citizen (World Curling Federation rules – www.worldcurling.org ) – Rules and Regulations are described in detail here Rules of Curling, but the residency details are included here for your enjoyment:

“Eligibility: is based on curlers who are qualified nationally to represent their country either by birth,
being children of parents born in that country, or by permanent residence in that country for a
consecutive period of at least two years before the first of April in the year of the World
Championships. A person is qualified to play for a spouse’s country if resident in that country. It should
be noted that this eligibility and qualification will not apply to playing in the Olympic Winter Games,
which will be governed by the regulations of the International Olympic Committee.”

We don’t typically play in Australia …. the curling is on hockey ice and the quality is not at a competitive standard.

Curling in Australia  http://www.curling.org.au

Curling Blog  http://www.curling.org.au/blog

What about Social Curling in Australia ?

Currently, two groups curl weekly in Australia…..

• Melbourne, Victoria   http://www.curlingvictoria.org.au/   in a new rink http://www.icehouse.com.au/
• Brisbane, Queensland  http://www.qldcurling.com/

Curling in Sydney might be happening very soon – we have an Organising Committee and we need to figure a few things out (like get rocks …. let me know if you have any)

I’ll move to Australia … can you help me find a job?

A few of us on the team work in IT….the economy is good compared to most western markets.

www.seek.com.au  is the number one job site.  Link your work and skills to a job... even if you don't curl... its a lot warmer than Canada / US. 

Hope this helps clarify some of the high level questions!

<Ian Palangio>