Canberra Stock Sport Club

Icestock Sport, also known as Bavarian Curling, is traditionally a winter sport and is relatively new to Australia but in Germany it has been played since well before the 16th century and is known as Icestockießen.

Originally played on ice - and it still is in Europe - the sport is played on concrete or bitumen in Australia. Competitors slide stocks over the surface, aiming for a target, or to cover the longest distance.

There are several disciplines in Icestock Sport including teams, individual target shooting and distance shooting. All can be played on ice or as a summer sport on bitumen and concrete surfaces. Different coloured plates are used to vary the speed of the stock.

The team competition is very tactical with two teams of four players taking turns in aiming to get their team stocks closest to the target, called the Daube. Points are gained by being closest to the Daube after all eight players have thrown their stock.

The individual target competition is a skills event where individual competitors build points by aiming at targets and undertaking challenges such as knocking a stock out of the bahn.
In distance shooting, the aim is simply to throw the ice stock as far as possible, which requires precise technique and strength.

Ice Stock Sport is a growing sport in Australia and can be played by anyone who can lift the 4 kilogram stock. There are clubs in Victoria, NSW, Qld and the ACT as well as an Australian Association. We regularly travel to interstate competitions and the World Championships in Europe.

The sport, mostly practised in southern Germany and Austria, has been demonstrated at the Winter Olympic Games on two occasions and World Championships were first held in in 1983, after the International Federation of Icestock Sport (IFE) was established.