 The opening ceremonies for the Olympics are coming up on Thursday in South Korea, but for club curlers around the country, all eyes will be on Brainerd this coming week. Clayton Castle has that story. While Team USA Curlers make their way to South Korea for the Olympics, curlers from as far as California will be making their way to Brainerd for the USA Curling's club national championships. And for the Brainerd Lakes Curling Club, being selected as host was pleasantly unexpected. We actually applied for a short event and they decided because our club was more consistent with other clubs that we would be doing this. The experience of serving as host for the round robin competition has been a growing experience for the young club in Brainerd. Compared to many curling clubs in the United States, the Brainerd Curling Club is relatively young. We're just starting our eleventh year and to host something like this takes a lot of teamwork, a lot of coordination. Actually our club has matured a lot and we've really pulled together as a group to be able to host this. It's a tremendous commitment. While curling is more popular in areas such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, every region in the country brings a unique style in both the sport and the competition in Brainerd. Minnesota is its own region. We have so many clubs as is Wisconsin. For instance, Pacific Northwest includes Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and up into Alaska and in the southern sun belt across the United States there's just very few teams so each area has its own distinct flair but definitely the northern tier of the United States is the most active for curling. Curlers from all over the country with varying amounts of experience will make the way to Brainerd this week for the Nationals including former world champion and Olympic athlete Debbie McCormick. Probably the most experienced person is going to be a gal from Wisconsin, Debbie McCormick who's actually gone to the Olympics. We have a variety of ages and a variety of experiences. Competition kicks off with the opening ceremonies on Saturday afternoon in Brainerd. Reporting from Brainerd Clayton Castle, Lakeland News. All the matches for the USA Curling Club national championships will be at the Brainerd Lakes Curling Club located in the southwest corner of the Curling County Fairground. Big event for the city there. It is. Looks like fun. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.