Curling: National bonspiel to be live-streamed from Ferndale

The Detroit Curling Club is hosting the 67th annual United States Women's Curling Association National Bonspiel this week. The theme of the tournament is "Curl in the Name of Love" — a nod to the Motown Sound as well as Valentine's Day.

Thirty-two teams will compete in the tournament, including rinks from as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska, and Belfast, Maine. But even though some of the curlers might be many miles from their Valentines this week, the Internet will bring them together.

"We'll be live-streaming games through our website," bonspiel chair Susan Tortorelli said, "so the folks back home can watch their loved ones compete."

The DCC's new live-streaming system, accessible through a link on detroitcurlingclub.com, was first used during the Men's International Bonspiel last month. It will be familiar to any armchair curler who has watched the sport on television. TV cameras focus on the third of the club's four ice sheets, where the bonspiel's most important games will be played, including the championship final at 1 p.m. Sunday. Overhead cameras show the "house" (scoring rings) at each end of the sheet. Other cameras aim along the sheet, showing the action as it develops to and from each end.

The DCC is hosting this bonspiel for the first time since 1957, and it should be "a memorable and fun-filled event," as club president Maryanne Wessels put it, "given that we've had a whole 58 years to prepare."

Besides teams from Alaska and Maine, the tournament will include rinks from Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Three rinks from the host club will represent Michigan.

Rocking in Motown

What: 67th annual USWCA National Bonspiel, with 32 women's teams from 11 states.

When: Competition begins Thursday, with the first draw at 7:30 a.m., and continues Friday, Saturday and

Sunday, with finals at 1 p.m.

Where: Detroit Curling Club, Ferndale.

Watch: Live streaming at detroitcurlingclub.com.