When you think of popular sports, a typical few come to mind. Sports such as baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer dominate most athletic headlines around the country; however, junior Peter Tsipis has a passion for a sport you may not know much about.

Ever since he tried it for the first time in 2nd grade, Tsipis has had a love for curling. He curled for the first time at Wayland Curling Club after a friend of his dad recommended they check it out.

“He told my dad about the curling club in Wayland. I had never heard of it, so my dad took my brother and I there to try it out,” Tsipis said. “My brother didn’t like it, but I loved it. It was something to do because I didn’t play any winter sports at the time.”

The objective of curling is to slide the “rocks” as close to, or in the middle of, the “house,” the circular area at the end of the ice.

A curling team consists of four players: the lead, the second, the third and the skip. The lead throws first and then “sweeps” for the next players, which means he sweeps the ice in front of the moving rock to help it travel further towards the house. The second sweeps for the lead and then throws. The third, throws after the second and then sweeps for the skip, who throws last. The skip is the captain of the team and is in charge of strategizing all of the team’s throws.

Tsipis curls at Broomstones Curling Club, which is located in Wayland. He also competes at tournaments, known as bonspiels. According to Tsipis, they usually last for a weekend, Friday to Sunday, and he will play four to five matches depending on how well he does. Tsipis has competed in tournaments in Wayland, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, Upstate New York and New Jersey.

“They are friendly bonspiels in that winners gets a trophy and some other stuff, so they are pretty competitive but we are a very close knit community,” Tsipis said. “We’re all just friends with each other.”

Along with curling in bonspiels, Tsipis also competes in playdowns, which are his curling league’s championships. The winning team of the playdown goes to the regional tournament, where teams vie for a chance to go to nationals. Wayland will be hosting regionals this year.

Of all the things he loves about curling, Tsipis enjoys the feeling of community among all the curlers the most.

“I can be really competitive during the match, but at the end of the day, I’m still curling with the same people I’ve curled with for ten years, and I have great friendships with them,” Tsipis said. “You really form great friendships around the league because we are such a close knit community. I even have friends I know from curling who live across the country.”

Curling may not be as well known in the United States compared to other sports, but Tsipis believes it has a chance to one day become a popular sport around the country.

“I think it will catch on eventually. NBC Sports just started broadcasting international curling events last year, which was the first time curling had been broadcasted nationally in the United States,” Tsipis said. “I think it will catch on because people will want to try new things and it’s a really interesting sport.”