Weekend Warrior: Sweeping Interests

YVR director of customer care Reg Krake on maintaining balance, on and off the curling rink

I like a variety of sports and activities, from curling to cycling to skiing to dancing and singing. Ultimately it comes back to balance and making sure you’re healthy in life: mentally fit and physically fit.

I began curling in high school with my dad and brothers in Osoyoos. In a small town, it can be quiet in the winter. There’s lots of activities you have to get involved in to keep busy, so I learned curling from my dad and all the people around me, which was awesome. Then I went off to university and started a career so wasn’t able to keep up curling.

Competitive volleyball became my go-to sport. I’d done volleyball all through high school, kept it up in university and played in the B.C. volleyball association. Twenty-five years of competitive volleyball resulted in enough injuries that, about 10 years ago, I needed to re-evaluate my sports activities so I wouldn’t be hobbled by the time I’m 60. I could instead continue to pursue lots of sports and activities but not abuse my body as much. 

Curling became a great alternative to go back to. It’s fairly low impact, but it actually has pretty decent cardio. If you’re sweeping a lot in a game, you are up and down the ice every shot virtually, and when you’re sweeping hard, you burn quite a few calories. A lot of people think it’s kind of a beer sport, and I think there’s some truth in that historically, but it’s gotten a lot more intense over the years. It’s a really nice recreational and social sport.