School was out early for a crowd of Central Otago pupils, who swapped books and pencils for curling stones during the 15th annual Primary School Curling Tournament held in Alexandra on Friday.
More than 60 year 7 and 8 pupils from eight schools around the district used their last day of the school term to take part in outdoor curling at the Ice InLine rink.
Organiser Nick Loughnan said it was a great chance to get children interested in the sport.
"It’s really just an opportunity for them to get the basics of the game under way," he said.
"They love it."
The pupils played a modified type of curling with shorter rinks and game length.
The competition used both hack and crampit styles of the game.
Mr Loughnan said most competitors had some experience of curling through school.
"A lot of them have already played before ... and for those that haven’t, they soon pick it up."
Volunteers who had experience with the game were on hand to give teams advice.
"We’ve always had good help from experienced curlers," Mr Loughnan said.
"They give up their time to come for the day and help kids [and] show them the finer points as they’re needing it."
"We couldn’t run this without a lot of the people in the background that help."
He said it was always an easy tournament to organise because the children "always manage really well".
St Gerard’s Primary School Team One, of Alexandra, took out the top spot in the competition.
— Ruby Shaw, Cadet reporter
