Vital “new” event for curling newbies

The USA Curling 5 & Under National Championship recently wrapped up at the Southern California Curling Center in Vernon.

When you hear “five and under” you might think about tiny kid curlers, playing with Littler Rocks (“Little Rocks” are already undersized, for ages 6-12) and flopping all over the ice in crash helmets. Not so.

“5U” refers to new curlers, who have no more than five years of experience under their belts.

In recent years, both the United States and Canada have embraced the recreational curler by hosting national “club” championships. The 5U initiative gets to the recreational player even faster, offering a vital championship series based on fun and inclusiveness.

While this championship was the first to be hosted by the national governing body, there were two independent versions that got the ball rolling.

“Like most good curling stories, it started in a bar,” said Matt Gamboa of the Southern California Curling Center. “I was sitting with John Shuster at the bar of a hotel in Colorado Springs. We were in town for a USCA board meeting. He mentioned his idea to me and I thought it was a good one.

“A few months later, I was in Albany for the USCA Members Assembly and I was in an ad hoc ‘Grow the Sport’ committee and realized this idea of John’s was perfect for this committee. Bret Jackson and Steve O'Keefe were also into it and we ran with it, and a few months later we had the pilot event in Duluth (in 2019) with the help of John, the club, and the USWCA (U.S. Women’s Curling Association).

“We did it the next year in Wausau (2020). Then the pandemic started.”

A recent regime change at USA Curling brought sea change in the form of Shuster’s vision being fully embraced by the organization.

“I hadn’t gotten to attend the event the previous years, so it was very cool to see so many new curlers in our new curling center,” said Gamboa. “It’s kind of a nice way to tie a bow on a lot of the work we've been doing for the past few years. The Spirit of Curling was alive and well over the weekend, and I’m excited to see this event continue to grow.”

It was fitting to see Shuster on site in Vernon, meeting and greeting the competitors from across the country.

“It’s a pretty awesome event,” said Shuster. “The new curler community has really embraced the opportunity.”

USA Curling member clubs hosted a total of 18 qualifying bonspiels to confirm a field of 24 teams for the championship.

“Our game is growing so quickly in our country, and giving the enthusiastic upstart curlers something big like this has really been amazing,” said Shuster. “To think all of the teams competing there actually won an event to qualify, really brings the grass roots heritage of our sport through.”

Others who deserve credit along with Shuster and Gamboa are Steve O’Keefe, Bret Jackson, Jennifer Stannard and the USWCA.

In the final, Team Justin Ramm of Madison, Wisc. (with Scott Moss, Ryan Hood and Dave Dickinson) won the title with an 8-4 win over fellow Wisconsinites Team Austin Binish (with Karl Schmidt, Charles Zingsheim and Mike MacPherson).

“It feels amazing,” reflected Ramm. “I think Dave gave me a bear hug that almost cracked a rib.”

Team Daniel Bliven of Wisconsin beat California’s Team Alyssa Parks 9-3 to claim third-place honors.

“To me, piloting our five-and-under national gives curlers who found our sport later in life something major to play for,” said Shuster. “Some of the most passionate people you see about our game are the newest to our sport.”