Editing Curling (section)

== Culture ==
[[File:The Curlers by Sir George Harvey.jpg|thumb|''The Curlers'' (1835) by Sir [[George Harvey (painter)|George Harvey]]]]
[[File:John George Brown - Curling;--a Scottish Game, at Central Park - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Curling;—a Scottish Game, at [[Central Park]]'' (1862) by [[John George Brown]]]]
[[File:Charles Martin Hardie - Curling at Carsebreck - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Grand Match|Curling at Carsebreck]]'' (1899) by [[Charles Martin Hardie]]]]

Competition teams are normally named after the skip, for example, Team Martin after skip Kevin Martin. Amateur league players can (and do) creatively name their teams, but when in competition (a bonspiel) the official team will have a standard name.

Top curling championships are typically played by all-male or all-female teams. It is known as [[mixed curling]] when a team consists of two men and two women. For many years, in the absence of world championship or Olympic mixed curling events, national championships (of which the [[Canadian Mixed Curling Championship]] was the most prominent) were the highest-level mixed curling competitions. However, a [[European Mixed Curling Championship]] was inaugurated in 2005, a [[World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship]] was established in 2008, and the European Mixed Championship was replaced with the [[World Mixed Curling Championship]] in 2015. A [[Curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Mixed doubles tournament|mixed tournament]] was held at the Olympic level for the first time in [[2018 Winter Olympics|2018]], although it was a doubles tournament, not a four-person.

Curling tournaments may use the [[Schenkel system]] for determining the participants in matches.

Curling is played in many countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom (especially Scotland), the United States, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, and Japan, all of which compete in the world championships.

Curling has been depicted by many artists including: [[George Harvey (painter)|George Harvey]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Harvey |first=George |title=The Curlers |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-210179/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143859/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-210179/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Harvey |first=George |title=The Curlers |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-210171/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143750/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-210171/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> John Levack,<ref>{{cite web |last=Levack |first=John |title=The Curlers at Rawyards |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-at-rawyards-189706/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216084735/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-at-rawyards-189706/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curlers-1543116/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Dutch School,<ref>{{cite web |title=Dutch School |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-208735/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143830/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-208735/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Charles Martin Hardie]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Hardie |first=Charles Martin |title=Curling at Carsebreck |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-at-carsebreck-212455/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143817/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-at-carsebreck-212455/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> John Elliot Maguire,<ref>{{cite web |last=Maguire |first=John Elliot |title=Curling Stone Workshop |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-stone-workshop-183133/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216084748/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/curling-stone-workshop-183133/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> John McGhie,<ref>{{cite web |last=McGhie |first=John |title=The Curlers |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-124756/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |website=ArtUK |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143804/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-curlers-124756/view_as/grid/search/keyword:curling/page/1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[John George Brown]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Curling;—a Scottish Game, at Central Park |url=https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/50564 |website=The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204326/https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/50564 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Curling is particularly popular in Canada. Improvements in ice making and changes in the rules to increase scoring and promote complex strategy have increased the already high popularity of the sport in Canada, and large television audiences watch annual curling telecasts, especially the [[Scotties Tournament of Hearts]] (the national championship for women), the [[Montana's Brier]] (the national championship for men), and the women's and men's world championships.

Despite the Canadian province of [[Manitoba]]'s small population (ranked 5th of 10 Canadian provinces), Manitoban teams have won the Brier more times than teams from any other province, except for Alberta. The Tournament of Hearts and the Brier are contested by [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provincial and territorial]] champions, and the world championships by national champions.

Curling is the provincial sport of Saskatchewan. From there, [[Ernie Richardson (curler)|Ernie Richardson]] and his family team dominated Canadian and international curling during the late 1950s and early 1960s and have been considered to be the best male curlers of all time.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=CBC Television |url=http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/curlingrichardsons.html |title=Kings of the World: The Curling Richardsons |date=13 March 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428013412/http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/curlingrichardsons.html |archive-date=28 April 2007}}</ref> [[Sandra Schmirler]] led her team to the first-ever gold medal in women's curling in the [[1998 Winter Olympics]]. When she died two years later from [[cancer]], over 15,000 people attended her funeral, and it was broadcast on national television.

=== Good sportsmanship ===<!-- This section is linked from Curling -->
More so than in many other team sports, good sportsmanship, often referred to as the "Spirit of Curling", is an integral part of curling. The Spirit of Curling also leads teams to congratulate their opponents for making a good shot, strong sweeping, or spectacular form. Perhaps most importantly, the Spirit of Curling dictates that one never cheers mistakes, misses, or gaffes by one's opponent (unlike most team sports), and one should not celebrate one's own good shots during the game beyond modest acknowledgement of the shot such as a head nod, fist bump, or thumbs-up gesture. Modest congratulation, however, may be exchanged between winning team members after the match. On-the-ice celebration is usually reserved for the winners of a major tournament after winning the final game of the championship. It is completely unacceptable to attempt to throw opposing players off their game by way of negative comment, distraction, or heckling.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rcmpcc.ca/web/cccntnt.asp?app=116 |title=Spirit of Curling |publisher=RCMP Curling Club, Ottawa |access-date=23 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517162908/http://www.rcmpcc.ca/web/cccntnt.asp?app=116 |archive-date=17 May 2013}}</ref>

A match traditionally begins with players shaking hands with and saying "good curling" or "have a pleasant game" to each member of the opposing team. It is also traditional in some areas for the winning team to buy the losing team a drink after the game.<ref name="besthealth">{{cite web |url=http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/fitness/how-one-woman-fell-in-love-with-curling |title=How one woman fell in love with curling |last=Pearson |first=Patricia |date=March–April 2009 |work=Best Health |access-date=1 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209085048/http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/fitness/how-one-woman-fell-in-love-with-curling |archive-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> Even at the highest levels of play, players are expected to call their own fouls.

It is not uncommon for a team to concede a curling match after it believes it no longer has any hope of winning. Concession is an honourable act and does not carry the stigma associated with quitting. It also allows for more socializing. To concede a match, members of the losing team offer congratulatory handshakes to the winning team. Thanks, wishes of future good luck, and hugs are usually exchanged between the teams. To continue playing when a team has no realistic chance of winning can be seen as a breach of etiquette.

=== Accessibility ===
{{Main|Wheelchair curling}}
[[File:WWHCC 2009 - Team China.jpg|thumb|Team China at World Wheelchair Curling Championship in February 2009]]
Curling has been adapted for wheelchair users and people otherwise unable to throw the stone from the hack. These curlers may use a device known as a "delivery stick". The cue holds on to the handle of the stone and is then pushed along by the curler. At the end of delivery, the curler pulls back on the cue, which releases it from the stone.<ref>{{cite web |title=Section 4 - Using a Throwing Device |url=http://www.curlingschool.com/manual2007/Section4.html |website=The Curling School |publisher=Curltech |access-date=16 December 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116162200/http://www.curlingschool.com/manual2007/Section4.html |archive-date=16 January 2017}}</ref> The [[Canadian Curling Association]] ''Rules of Curling'' allows the use of a delivery stick in club play, but does not permit it in championships.

The delivery stick was specifically invented for elderly curlers in Canada in 1999. In early 2016 an international initiative started to allow use of the delivery sticks by players over 60 years of age in World Curling Federation Senior Championships, as well as in any projected Masters (60+) Championship that develops in the future.<ref>World Masters Curling [http://achievementinage.blogspot.co.uk/ World Masters Curling]| {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110055810/http://achievementinage.blogspot.co.uk/ |date=10 January 2016 }}</ref>