Aksarben Curling is excited to feature Kali Odd!
Kali is originally from Loveland, CO, but has been in Nebraska for a while now. She is the oldest of four kids (shoutout to Kadia, Cleveland, and Abbey!) and considers her undergrad roommate’s family her own too (another shoutout to Zaidya, Caylan, Kitra, and Janea!). Kali earned her doctorate in gerontology from the University of Nebraska - Omaha in May 2024. Currently, she works for a nonprofit called The Collective of Hope which provides free grief support to the community. She is also an adjunct instructor for the Department of Gerontology at UNO.
While Kali does miss the mountains and her family back in Colorado, she chose to stay in Omaha because of the amazing curling community! Kali began curling in January 2022. Later that year, she helped start the UNO
Curling Club where she curled for two years while finishing her Ph.D. Now, she typically curls on Tuesdays with team Curl POW! and on Sundays at 2:15pm with team Stone Cold. When asked what position she usually throws, she described herself as the “Untouchable Second” since she rarely throws anything else.
Kali described her favorite curling memories as fun, little moments with her teammates every week. She recalls many instances of shouting random phrases like “CURL POW!” for takeouts on Tuesdays, “more or less lightening”, and “HONEY BAKED” for a button-draw when curling with UNO. Other moments that have stuck with her are Katie’s pirate-themed guard calls on Tuesdays and her and Nate’s “positive points” celebrations or “negative points” head shakes on Sundays. For her, the fun and most memorable moments come from creating those little, positive connections with others!
Sticking to Kali’s curling favorites, she said that her favorite places to broomstack in Omaha include Kinkaider or Inner Rail. She’s enjoyed curling at Mankato Curling Club and Kansas City Curling Club. Traveling to a Colorado curling club is high on her list of places she’d like to curl next!
Need some curling advice? Kali’s got it! Her two biggest pieces of advice include:
- Every shot is a new shot. Every end is a new end.
- Focus on one thing to improve at a time.
At the end of the day, Kali’s two goals are to have fun and get her stones in play. If there are stones in play, anything can happen! Now that’s some great advice!
Besides curling, Kali likes to read, swim, learn Spanish, take care of plants and her cat, and play all variations of games (board, card, and video)! Her current favorite games to play include Mountain Goats, Dutch Blitz, and Trogdor. She also likes Scooby Doo! The Board Game, and the Exit escape room games. Video games she enjoys are Spyro, all three Cat Quests, Scooby Doo, Rayman Legends, and Lego Star Wars. You will also find her hanging out with her cat, Tobi, whether it be snuggling, playing, or dressing him up in little bowties (unclear if he likes them, but Kali sure does!).
