Meet Matt Gamboa of Hollywood Curling in San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Gamboa.

Hollywood Curling was started at the end of 2007 to bring the sport of curling to Los Angeles. It was incorporated as a non-profit and is run by a board of volunteer directors. The organization started with a couple dozen curlers running a league on Sunday nights in Panorama City. Through two Olympic cycles and expansion to a second ice rink, we have built the membership to close to 100 and host an annual tournament every summer. The tournament is our centerpiece event, attracting curlers from all over the world to play in a fun, social environment.

Ice time is tough to come by, so we’re looking to make the leap into our own facility to continue to grow the sport.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not always been smooth on the management side, but steady leadership has allowed the organization to thrive and look ahead to grow. The key is to be as inclusive and democratic as possible to ensure everyone has a voice and can buy into the greater goals of the organization.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hollywood Curling – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We curl. In 2008 it was the oddball thing that people didn’t quite understand or know about. In 2016 people are excited to hear about it and learn where and how they can do it.

We offer a number of products based on our ice availability. Public Learn to Curl events including our popular Pop-Up Curling clinics at outdoor ice rinks are our main public facing offerings. We also host private parties for birthdays or team building corporate events as ice time allows. If you get bit by the curling bug, then we have leagues, tournaments, and skills clinics we offer to really soak up the joy and fun of playing the sport.

We’re working on growing our youth offerings through our School of Rocks program, and we offer adaptive clinics for wheelchair curling. If you like the sport, there are very few reasons to not play it.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our main goal is to get into our own facility. If we can accomplish that, we could very well be the only one of its kind in California, and definitely in Los Angeles. This will allow us to expand on all the programs we currently offer and bring the sport to more people.

Pricing:

• $25 for a learn to curl
• $30-65 for membership
• $27-30 per night for leagues

Contact Info:

• Address: P.O. Box 7872
  Van Nuys, CA 91409
• Website: hollywoodcurling.org
• Phone: (818) 850-6692
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @hollywoodcurl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hollywoodcurling
• Twitter: @hollywoodcurl
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hollywood-curling-panorama-city

 

Image Credit:
Rich Harmer (Team California Photo), Liza Beres (Outdoor photos), Rose Mieri (indoor photos)