USA Curling Nationals sweep through Philadelphia area

The 2012 USA Curling Nationals swept into the Philadelphia region this weekend and will continue through Saturday.

Held at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Delaware County, the full week of competition will name a male and female national champion.

Aside from men and women team competitions, the event also features 20-minute “Learn to Curl” lessons from 10 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The sport, also called “chess on ice” involves teams sliding polished granite stones across a sheet of ice to a circular target, guiding them with broom-like sticks. It has grown in popularity since its 1998 Winter Olympics debut.

[h/t Uwishunu]