Freshman Maggie Fitzgerald and her junior curling team won second place in the Grand National Curling Club qualifiers and competed in the 2022 National Championships in Fort Wayne, Indiana from March 31 to April 3.  

Fitzgerald’s father, who also curls, began teaching Fitzgerald when she was in fourth grade. Since then, she has advanced to compete in regional and national competitions with her team. Fitzgerald takes lessons twice a week at Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, MA. Her junior team, which competes in round-robin tournaments, consists of four people. 

In curling, two teams of four players compete by sliding (or “throwing,” as it’s called in curling terms) large round stones (also called “rocks”) down a 144 foot-long sheet of ice toward a target. Curlers use a curling broom in a process called “sweeping” to help move the stone down the ice and ultimately towards the target, which is called the “house.” 

“[Curling] is similar to baseball; where in baseball you have innings, in curling you have eight to ten sections called ends,” Fitzgerald said. “Your team throws eight stones per end and the goal is to try to score the most points to be the winner.”

Within her curling team, everyone has a unique role but also does a little bit of everything. 

“On my team, I am the second,” Fitzgerald said. “This means I throw the third and fourth rocks of the end, but it also means that I am sweeping for the rest.”

Fitzgerald’s team has gone to Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and several other states for competitions, but Indiana is the farthest the team has traveled. 

“We’ve been working hard to prepare for the competition,” Fitzgerald said. “Running drills and talking strategy as much as we can is really important. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose in competitions, but I am hopeful because we have been consistently improving with each game.”

Fitzgerald has learned a lot through the juniors program at Broomstones. With the help of a highly regarded team dedicated to teaching the next generation of curlers, she was able to compete only two years after she began. 

“The first year when I tried it out, I lacked confidence and didn’t want to keep doing it,” Fitzgerald said. “My dad wanted me to give it another year and now I’ve made some awesome friends that are now my teammates. If he didn’t say ‘Keep with it,’ I definitely would have quit. Now, I’m glad I didn’t.”

Now, both she and her father, Jim Fitzgerald, share a strong passion for curling. They spend time together practicing specific strategies and building physical strength. They also talk about the goals for each session in the car rides to and from practice. 

“We learn a lot from each other,” Jim Fitzgerald said. “After a game, we will go over a few things here and there, little hints and tips from my experience. I think the most important thing about curling is the spirit of curling, which are the unwritten rules of sportsmanship such as being fair, doing your best and letting people know when you mess up. This is not just an important lesson in the game, but also in life and everywhere else. ”

Maggie Fitzgerald has made meaningful connections with her teammates and has come to love the small curling community.

“I love curling because it’s a unique and not widely played sport,” Maggie Fitzgerald said. “You build a connection with people you play with. It’s a really great group and a really fun environment.”

Maggie Fitzgerald has grown to understand the physical balance and strategies of curling. She said knowing how to play the physical and mental aspects of the game has helped her become a better competitor. 

“Although my team did not end up placing, we honestly did better than we were expected to do since we were one of the younger teams there,” Maggie Fitzgerald said. “I’m really excited for my future in curling. I feel my team and I have improved so much each year, and I’m hopeful for more improvement in the future.”