Mixed curling

Mixed curling, also known as Coed curling, is the sport of curling, when played by men and women together. Some community and school level curling is mixed, while most top-level curling championships are divided into men's and women's divisions. A normal mixed team consists of 2 men and 2 women with the throwers alternating in gender. Recently, the World Curling Federation has introduced a World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.

The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is perhaps the world's top-level mixed curling event. There is also the European Mixed Curling Championship. The World Curling Championships, Winter Olympics Curling tournaments, and the top Canadian tournaments known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Tim Hortons Brier are single-sex events or are divided into single-sex divisions.

Mixed doubles

The first World Mixed Doubles Championship took place in 2008. Instead of the normal four players, two players-- one woman and one man competed for each team. The idea developed from the mixed doubles event at the Continental Cup of Curling. There was an attempt to make the event part of the Olympics.

Rules:

At the start of each end, two rocks start in play — one in the back half of the button with the front of the rock at the very center of the house, and a rock of the opposite color guarding on the center line, halfway between the front of the house and the hog line. Five rocks are played per team, with scoring performed as normal. One thrower must throw the first and last stones of each end, while the other thrower must throw the three in between.

No stone, including those in the house, can be removed from play prior to the delivery of the fourth stone of an end. If there is a violation, the delivered stone shall be removed from play, and any displaced stone(s) shall be replaced to their original position by the non-offending team.

The non-throwing team member must be behind the house-end hogline until the rock is released.

There is an additional concept, known as the option, given to one of the teams. The option is given to the team which did not score in the previous end (or randomly determined in the first end), and switches teams in the event of a blank end. The team with the option has the option to select which of the two rocks in play is theirs, with the hammer going to the team with the rock in the house.

World Championships

External links

• "Why not Coed Curling". 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-01.  Blog posting with 24 comments in response, including information about differences between curling as played by men and women.