‘It’s grown so fast.’ BGSU Curling takes off, even before Olympic buzz

Computer science student Joe Boyle found a passion for the sport after trying a learn-to-curl class, and has seen the club more than triple during his time at BGSU

The tipping point for Joe Boyle started as a simple invitation.

Now the president of the Bowling Green State University curling club, Boyle got his start in the sport the same way many curious Americans do: he took a learn-to-curl class.

After his younger brother had taken to curling at Black Swamp Curling Center in Bowling Green, Boyle was invited to try it out as a high school senior who already knew he was attending BGSU.

Fewer than four years later, Boyle went from a curling novice to a leadership position for one of the University’s fastest-growing teams.

“My brother went to junior nationals, which started with just a couple of them wanting to go, and then it just skyrocketed from there,” he said. "Then, our friend groups merged, we shared the same coach and what began as a casual invitation eventually led to a Division I offer, and now I’m president of the club."

Unlike most other Olympic sports, curling is not sponsored at the NCAA level. Though it is classified as a club team at BGSU – one of just two universities in Ohio to sponsor a curling team – they compete through College Curling USA, the governing body that oversees curling at the university level.

Students on the BGSU curling team compete at the highest level of the sport, with some traveling to face the country’s best college curling teams. In 2023, Bowling Green played host to the college curling national championship.

For Boyle, a Bowling Green native who also played in the Falcon Marching Band as a freshman and sophomore, the chance to pair a high-level sport with his degree program in computer science has been a key part of his college experience.

His coach, Patrick Nelson, invited him to be on the travel roster early in his time at BGSU, and Boyle said he’s been hooked ever since.

“Initially, I was all-in on band, but I thought I’d give curling a try as well,” he said. “Patrick told me they had a tournament going on in Lincoln, Nebraska, to play against a lot of the schools out West. It ended up being a lot of fun and a great trip, and I got pretty into curling from there.”

Since then, Boyle has helped bring the sport to even more people on campus, encouraging friends and acquaintances to try learn-to-curl classes.

During Boyle's time at BGSU, curling has gone from a niche club to having three competitive teams.

“After that first year, it’s been attending Campus Fest and me dragging even more band friends into it, so we’ve gone from five or six to a team of almost 20 where we can send out three teams every week,” Boyle said.

As he continues his degree program – Boyle already has a cybersecurity internship with Nationwide lined up for the summer – playing a sport has also been a major part of Boyle’s experience at BGSU.

The sport is in an Olympic-year boom with classes filling up quickly, but at BGSU, curling already was on the upswing.

“It’s grown so fast that it’s almost not recognizable from my freshman year, which is one of the best situations we could be in,” Boyle said. “It’s been awesome to see not only curling grow as a sport, but to see curling thrive here at BGSU.”