If you’ve watched the winter olympics, you might have been enthralled by the various sub-zero activities. Whilst some of the chilled sports are relatively easy to have a go at, others are not so obviously available to try.
Roxy Ball Room had recently opened in the city centre. I knew it would give me the opportunity to have a go at some things I’ve never tried before. I hadn’t anticipated I’d be able to try curling, albeit ice-free curling!
Whilst there is evidence that curling existed in Scotland in the 16th century, ice-free curling has only existed in York since 2024!
What Is Roxy Ball Room?
With a tag line of ‘booze and ball games’ this is a one stop games playground for adults. Having said that, some of the venues do allow under 18s with a supervising adult – but only at certain times and days, so you’re less likely to be sharing the space with a teenage birthday party.
Entering the York venue is like going into an indoor fairground. Metallic decor and trimmings give it an industrial-futuristic feel. Despite a lack of windows the darkness is lit up by by colourful bright glowing lights.
We arrived before our booked session which gave us time to get a drink from the extensive selection at the bar, and warm up with a few of the quick games including air hockey and basketball.
Playing Ice-Free Curling
After checking in at our allotted time, our host showed us to our game zone. There wasn’t much in the way of instructions, just some simple guidance on the screen.
However, it’s a really easy game to pick up with similarities to bowling. – although we didn’t need to change into special shoes to play, and we had to retrieve our stones by walking on the surface, (officially called a ‘sheet’ fact fans), which felt like surely we were breaking all the rules, but nope, that’s how it’s done!
How Does It Differ From Curling On Ice?
- Unlike the curling you see in the Olympics, this was not as cold.
- Rather than the granite versions that slide across the ice in the traditional game, these stones were much lighter with ballbearings to help them glide across the surface.
- Teams have 4 stones each rather than the 8 that are used on the ice.
- There is no tactical brushing involved in ice-free curling. I mean, maybe you could give it a go but I doubt it would make any difference without the ice, and you’d need to bring your own broom which might be a bit odd.
The Aim Of The Game
The aim of the game is simple; take turns to slide the curling stones along the sheet and attempt to get them to rest in the centre of the target, which is also known as ‘the house’.
The nearest stones to the centre get the most points. However, your opposition can knock your stones out of the way when it’s their turn! Complacency is not your friend in this fast paced slidetastic activity!
Finding The Technique - Ice-Free Curling
The first few attempts were all about trying to find the best technique for launching the stones; which knee to bend; whether to push the stone from a standing start or launch it with an underarm motion, and how much thrust was needed to get the stone to go where you wanted it to. Once we’d roughly fathomed that out, the competition began.
Scoring
We played as two teams of two. The overhead camera gave little room for squabbling over whether the stones were in the target or not, and we input our scores onto the screen. It was a very close call, with only a couple of points in it.
Switching teams for our second game, the scores were just as close. As someone who is not very competitive at all, that’s the best sort of outcome for me! A great game with a great result for everyone.
Giving Ice-Free Curling A Go
Playing ice-free curling was n-ice! it was simple to get the hang of, and fairly quick paced.
Taking it in turns to launch the stones also meant there was very little time spent waiting to have a go which was great for playing the game, but not so good if you wanted a chat.
Additional drinks were ordered without leaving the game as we inputted and paid for our drinks through another screen and minutes later they arrived at our zone.
The most difficult part was figuring out how much force to put into a go to get the stone to either land in the centre, or knock out the stone of the opposition.
It’s certainly whet my appetite to try the ice version of the sport, including the strategic brushing to help the direction of the stone!
Want To Try It Yourself?
If you’re looking for something a bit different to do with friends on a night (or day), out, this is certainly worth looking into. Quick to pick up, straightforward to play, and easy to order beverages of your choice
Ice-free curling is a Roxy Ball Room exclusive, their website states ‘due to synthetic ice’.
They operate in several locations across the UK. Check the Roxy Ball Room website for details of your nearest venue.
- If you’re looking for other new things to try, check out the big list, featuring all of the fifty-two new things I’ve been trying a year since 2018
Cost Of Experience
- It cost £32 for an hour. That does seem to be the price regardless of how many people are playing. If there are several of you it works out quite reasonably per person.
- Four of us played for one hour, which gave us time for two full games and a bit of a warm up. We could probably have squeezed a third game in too.
Roxy Ball Room has various offers available and it’s worth checking their website for the latest deals and prices.
Recommendations
You can turn up on the day to play, but it’s better to book in advance to ensure you get to play what you want to, when you want to.
For a quick intro on how to play, check out this video from Roxy Ball Room
You’ll need to do a bit of bending and stretching for this, so don’t wear anything too tight that might rip!
Have a few practice shots before you get into the scoring, just so you can get a feel for how it works and how much force to put in to your go.
The Stonebow venue in York where we went operates a strict no under 18s policy, so do check the website first if you’re thinking of taking any younger people to play.
Roxy Ball Room operates by card only, so don’t forget to take yours. Even if you book on line before hand, you’ll need to pay by card for any food, drinks, or quick games that you want to play.
Don’t forget to capture some pictures of your brilliant game playing!
Wow, this sounds like such a cool experience – and what a cool place! I had never seen or heard of anything like it. I was particularly fascinated with the age rules from a business perspective. It’s great to see how York has sooo much to offer. It’s a city I would love to live in for a while. I’m glad you had fun and were happy with the result – it was indeed a good score!
Thank you so much for reading! I feel very lucky to be in York, there’s so much going on and plenty of opportunity to find new things to try, and it’s very pretty. Hope you get to come and visit! :o)
Really neat stuff. I had seen curling at the Winter Olympics as you noted but did not know much about the sport. Cool to see all the fascinating things that you are up to. Keep up the inspired work.
Ryan
Thanks Ryan!
Although the ice-free curling was quite different from what we see in the Olympics, it helped me to learn more about the actual sport! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Have you tried any new sports recently?
Sally