Most people dream of the Olympic Games for the glory, the gold, or maybe just the once-in-a-lifetime experience. But for a group of friends in Metz, France, the dream started with a joke about joining the 2030 Winter Olympics—specifically, the parties in the Olympic Village. What began as a lighthearted idea turned into something much bigger: a real club, real competition, and a real shot at representing France in one of its most underrepresented winter sports—curling.
From Internet Tutorials to Ice Arenas
The group behind what is now Graoully Metz Curling started from scratch. No brooms, no stones, and definitely no ice time. “We had nothing at the beginning,” said club president Jean-François Daret, who, along with his friends, taught himself the sport through online videos and tutorials.
They picked curling partly because it’s one of the least practiced Olympic sports in France—fewer than 400 licensed players nationwide, and only a handful of clubs. The only French curling medal on record? A bronze, way back in 1924. For the Metz team, it was the perfect blend of team spirit, strategy, and accessibility.
“We wanted a sport that felt inclusive, something with good values,” Daret explained. They expected a casual pastime. Instead, they found themselves immersed in a sport that was more physical and tactical than they’d imagined. One player described it as a mix between billiards and pétanque, with the added challenge of judging the subtle differences in ice conditions.
Building Metz’s First Curling Club
By early 2024, the team had created an official section within their local skating association. That soon evolved into Graoully Metz Curling, the first and only club of its kind in the Moselle region. Every Sunday morning, the team transforms Metz’s Ice Arena into a curling sheet—laying out markers, preparing the surface, and practicing their delivery.
With about 20 active members, the club has grown into a dedicated community. Their coach, Germain Capdevila, emphasized that one of the hardest parts is mastering stone delivery and judging distance—skills that demand precision, patience, and repetition.
It’s a grassroots operation, but the dream is big: qualify for the French national team and eventually compete in the 2030 Winter Olympics.
The Road to 2030—And a French Curling Revolution
The club’s next milestone? Performing well in the French national championship, where they’ll face tough competition from the likes of Mégève’s elite curling team, which features several international-level players. It’s a steep hill to climb, but the team is motivated by more than medals—they want to help revive curling in France.
One member, a geologist by trade, is even exploring how to manufacture French-made curling stones—a creative nod to making the sport their own in more ways than one.
The journey from watching YouTube tutorials to competing for Olympic qualification might sound unlikely, but it’s exactly the kind of story that shows how passion, teamwork, and a touch of humor can lead to unexpected places—like an icy path to the world’s biggest sporting stage.
So the next time someone jokes about going to the Olympics for the parties, don’t laugh too hard. They might just build a club, recruit a team, and start sliding stones toward a very real dream.
