Family: Try a sport where throwing stones is actively encouraged

My wife often writes this column, but when the editor asked her to write a piece on curling she couldn't understand why going to the hairdresser would be a family activity.

So over to me, who knows all about flinging lumps of granite down sheets of ice. Where I have failed miserably to get her indoors involved, our daughter Ellen has always taken an interest.

From the age of eight she has been one of the "Gremlins" at Murrayfield Curling, where most Sunday mornings at 9am you will find a large group of talkative, excited and enthusiastic youngsters accompanied by not so enthusiastic bleary-eyed parents.

At this point credit must be given to the coaches and helpers who turn up every week as volunteers to make this possible for the kids. And thank you very much as I am one of them.

As Head Gremlin, Andrew Barr devises training schedules and practice drills designed to develop the skills necessary for playing the game while at the same time making it fun.

The youngsters are encouraged to become involved in the running of the club from an early age as well though; it's not just a case of turning up and having everything organised for you. They take turns each week to collect the 2 fee at registration, hand out name stickers (essential for adults with bad memories) and do the pre-session warm up.

As well as the physical benefit of being involved in this sport, the benefit to their confidence by being included in the running of the class is amazing.

Each week Andrew will select three volunteers to lead the warm up and you see them standing out in front of a group their peers, leading them through a series of warm up exercises with all the bashfulness of a drill sergeant.

Once the daft questions are out of the way (such as "who's your favourite on Dancing on Ice?"), the level of concentration and effort amongst the pre-teens in my group is quite impressive.

For an hour they sweep, slide and push the stones as instructed. Even at this age you can see real promise, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not cheering on some of these children in future Winter Olympics.

Of course you don't have to be a nipper to start curling - I didn't discover the sport until my mid-thirties and there are regular introductory sessions at Murrayfield with information at the website.

It's a great sport to be involved in at any age, especially one in which, as a country, Scotland often actually do quite well.

www.murrayfieldcurling.co.uk, www.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 8 January, 2011