Our Club's History

    The Bowling Green Curling Club is the only curling club in Northwest Ohio. We used to curl at the BGSU Ice Arena, now we curl at the Black Swamp Curling Center. We welcome spectators and new curlers! 

    Bowling Green State University opened the doors of its new Ice Arena on February 10, 1967. Occupying the southern wing of the Ice Arena was a curling rink with four sheets of ice and a lounge designed for viewing the curling ice. Since curling was a new sport to this area, it was necessary to hold free curling clinics and open curling sessions to introduce the game. Tom Reicosky, who worked for the University Athletic Department, was appointed to be the first “director of curling.” He organized some informal leagues that continued to operate until the end of the school year.

    J. Howard Starr, the manager of the Ice Arena, appointed a Steering Committee for Curling that met on May 11, 1967. This committee recommended the formation of a curling club for the following year. A nominating committee was appointed to recommend a slate of officers. At a meeting of persons interested in curling on May 24, 1967, officers were chosen. John White was elected chairman and Jane Wankelman as secretary. Although that represented the origin of the Bowling Green Curling Club, it was an informal group and directed league curling in 1967-1968 without the benefit of established rules or a club constitution. Bob Bagno replaced Reicosky as director of curling the university and he was responsible for the strong development of curling that year, including an exhibition by the Mike Slyzuik rink from Detroit, then national champions, and organizing the club’s first bonspiel on Dec. 9, 1967. In February 1968, a Constitution Committee was formed and chaired by Alex Stone. However, the constitution was not approved by the club until the next year.

    At a meeting of the Executive Committee on May 23, 1968, Ron Smith was elected president of the club and Margot Hull was named treasurer. It is interesting to note that there was no balance in the treasury at the end of the year, which is called a perfect season. Unfortunately, there were no records kept of the membership.

    However, staring in the 1968-1969 season, accurate records of membership and finance were kept. Therefore, we are using the 1968-1969 years as the charter year for the Bowling Green Curling Club.


    Member Login

    Our Location

    Black Swamp Curling Center
    19901 N. Dixie Highway
    Bowling Green, Ohio 43402

    Contact Us

    General information: [email protected]
    BGCC rentals: events@bgcurlingclub.com

    Club Information

    The Bowling Green Curling Club is the only curling club in Northwest Ohio. We curl at the Black Swamp Curling Center and new members are always welcome! Come on out and enjoy the good people and good times that occur while curling.  We embrace all levels of curling from beginners to competitive and we hope to see you on the ice soon.