Zach Jacobson was in third grade when he first curled on what he considered to be a big stage. He subbed for his father in men's league in Langdon, N.D.
"At that time I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm curling with all these old guys and they're so good.' " Zach said. "It was pretty intimidating."
Jacobson, 26, is more comfortable when he steps onto the ice these days, even though the stakes are higher. He is the skip for Team Jacobson at the USA Curling National Championships being held at Scheels Arena.
Team Jacobson went 2-0 on Monday, the third day of round-robin play, scoring victories against Team Larway and Team Hamilton.
"It is great having it in Fargo," Jacobson said. "We know a lot of the volunteers here and it's easy for family to get here. We should have some support here."
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While Jacobson is playing in his ninth men's nationals, this is the first time he is serving as team skip. His younger brother, Zane Jacobson, 22, is also on the team. Zane is playing in his first men's nationals.
The brothers have played in numerous junior nationals, too.
"It helps when you start so young," Zane said. "You kind of learn the game from older people and you accelerate your own game. ... The very first time I remember is we were probably in second or third grade and dad would put a piece of duct tape on our shoe as a slider because we didn't have any sliders or anything."
Zach and Zane said their parents, Joel and Lisa, got them started curling.
Joel Jacobson played in 11 men's national championships and in one world championship tournament. Joel and Lisa both played on a team that won a mixed national championship in 1986.
Their sons have followed up with their own successes.
In 1999, Zane was one the youngest athletes to ever play in the junior nationals. He was 10 years old and named rookie of the year for the tournament.
"I was on the front page of the Waupaca, Wisconsin, paper because there was this 10-year-old here in the junior nationals," Zane said. "It was pretty big all week. It was pretty funny."
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Since the Langdon Curling Club recently closed, Zach and Zane - who both farm - had to commute to Killarney, Manitoba, (around 100 miles one way) to prepare for nationals.
"It's a lot of driving, no doubt about it," said Zach, who was an alternate on Todd Birr's team that won bronze at the 2007 worlds.
"We've played everybody here several times," Zane added. "It's like playing any other bonspiel."
Readers can reach Forum reporter
Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513.
Peterson's blog can be found
at peterson.areavoices.com
