Reservoir High School Student Curler Finds Opportunity on Ice

March 18th, 2026

Sahana Venugopal initially got into curling for one reason: the snacks.

Four years ago, the Reservoir High School freshman accompanied her mother to an event featuring assorted winter sports. She saw people curling, but wasn’t overly excited to join in. She was, however, keen on the refreshments being served on the sidelines.

“I told my mom, if they feed me cookies and hot chocolate every time, I’ll come back,” she recalls.

Not long thereafter, Venugopal joined the Potomac Curling Club and began to learn the sport.

Initially, she thought curling was easy.

“It seemed like something anyone could do. Just push the stone down the ice. Simple, right?” she says.

Wrong.

“Curling is actually much harder than it looks. There’s a ton of strategy involved, plus you need good balance, core strength, and endurance for the games, which are two hours long,” she says.

After two years of curling independently and learning the basics of the sport, Venugopal was selected to join a competitive youth (under 18) curling team in May 2025. She is one of only two girls from Maryland on the five-person team; the other three girls are from Pennsylvania. The Maryland and Pennsylvania contingents practice separately multiple times throughout the week and meet up on weekends to practice together. They also travel throughout the U.S. and Canada for matches.

“It’s definitely a big time and family commitment,” Venugopal says. “It helps that most everyone in my family curls, so we’re all into it.”

That commitment has paid off, as Venugopal and her team have racked up a number of top finishes, including a first-place finish at the U18 qualifiers in December and a fifth-place finish in the U18 U.S. National Championship in January. The team is also ranked third in the international U18 Junior Slam Series out of Ontario, Canada.

(Photo credit: USA Curling )

Venugopal is hopeful that she has many years of curling ahead of her.

“There’s always something new to learn and work on in curling, and if you’re willing to work hard and put in the time, there are possibilities to keep moving to higher levels,” she says, adding that she’d love to find her way to the Olympics someday.