Previewing half of the field for the 2026 5-and-Under National Championship

The final national championship of the 2025-2026 season is upon us. The championship calendar wraps up in Seattle, Washington as 24 teams will take the ice at the Granite Curling Club for the 5-and-Under National Championship.

5-and-Under curling has origins that go back quite a few years, but this became an officially sanctioned USA Curling national championship in 2022. Prior to that, the national championship had its beginnings with the United States Women’s Curling Association (USWCA). This is not the first time the USWCA has done the legwork of starting a successful national event and handing it over to USA Curling. They used that same formula over four decades earlier when they organized the very first USA Women’s National Championship and later handed it over to the national governing body.

Since USA Curling took over the event and qualification for that 2022 championship in southern California, the program has gone through immense growth and related growing pains. While overall team registrations have generally stabilized in the last couple seasons (more on these numbers in part 2 of my preview), local organizers have had to grapple with challenges. Teams dropping out of qualifier events because they’ve already qualified, trying to fill events at the last minute because of changes, or teams competing in a qualifier despite having already been qualified (I briefly touched on this last season).

It’s likely that at some point in the next year or two, we’ll begin seeing some changes. USA Curling has indicated they’d like to have a 5U women’s national championship in addition to the current “open” format championship. As with anything that is new, it will likely take years and multiple tweaks to eventually get this event (or event series) to a stable position. In the meantime, it is my hope that 5-and-Under curlers can embrace this outstanding opportunity to find competition among fellow curlers who also have found their way to the game as adults. But I also would love to continue seeing these curlers work hard to engrain themselves in the larger curling community, both at their home clubs and across the country.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll quickly cover the formats and then introduce you to the teams in Pools A and B of this year’s event. Part two of my championship preview (coming in the next day or two) will include the teams in Pool C and Pool D while also diving into some numbers from the season and, as always, my podium picks.

How To Watch

All sheets of the 2026 USA Curling 5-and-Under National Championship are going to be streamed on the Seattle Curling Livestream YouTube channel. Seattle’s Granite Curling Club has done a great job upleveling their livestream setup over the past year or two, and we all will benefit from that! I have not heard if any sheets will be commentated, but I will update this newsletter with any commentary info shared with me.

Update: The event hosts are currently planning to commentate 1 sheet per draw. This will most likely be sheet 3.

Draw Schedule

For the first time in the history of the event since it became sanctioned by USA Curling, the event is being held at a club smaller than 6 sheets. Granite Curling Club is a 5-sheet facility, meaning the event will start on a Wednesday afternoon instead of a Thursday.

Pools A and B will always play at the same time while Pools C and D will always have their draws together. Two teams from a pool having a bye during each draw (e.g. all six pool A teams will play in the first draw, but only four of the six pool B teams will play in the first draw).

Pool play begins on Wednesday afternoon and will finish on Saturday.

The top 2 teams from each pool will advance to an 8-team, single-elimination bracket. The quarterfinals begin Saturday at 8pm. On Sunday, the semifinals are at 9am with the 1st and 3rd place finals at 1pm. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.

The full schedule as well as live scores and standings can be found on the USA Curling’s 5-and-Under Championship event page.

Meet the Teams

Teams are listed in alphabetical order within their pool.

Important note regarding my stat-keeping logic for 5-and-Under: 5U teams have varying rosters throughout the season and often play in many different iterations at events. When calculating records and/or comparing with past performances, I only combine the statistics from events where the team has the same skip and at least one other repeated teammate. (e.g. if 3 of the 4 team members of a team went 5-0 at two events, but they had a different skip for each event, I consider those two different 5-0 teams.)

Pool A

Egan (Triangle Curling Club)

Qualified via Potomac

Team Egan qualified as a mixed team through the GNCC’s Raymond Kayser Mixed bonspiel. They were a runner up to Josh Dei’s rink and their runner-up bid was aided by Dei’s team (along with a few others) winning multiple qualifier events this season. Coady Egan went 8-2 as a skip this season, losing just one game in each of the two GNCC qualifier events she competed in.

Elliott (Nashville, St. Paul Curling Clubs)

Qualified via Portage

Chris Elliott returns back to nationals for another season after skipping his team to a 1-4 record at nationals in St Paul last year. Elliott played with a number of different team configurations throughout the season this year but eventually broke through in Portage, Wisconsin with a team of curlers from Nashville and St. Paul. The win in Portage did include wins over skips also in the field in Seattle, Gumz and Wysocki.

Mack (Kettle Moraine Curling Club)

Qualified via Appleton, Rocket City

Nobody competed in more 5U qualifiers this season than Bekka Mack of Kettle Moraine Curling Club. Like Elliott, Bekka and George Mack played with a wide-ranging cast of curlers throughout the season, posting a 24-10 record across their events this year. I was impressed with Mack as a skip throughout the season, and the results bore that out. Her teams won two events, Appleton’s Frigid 5U and the Space Race in Hutsville, AL while also coming in as the runner-up in Fort Wayne and Stevens Point. This is a newcomer to 5U nationals that I’m curious to see debut in Seattle.

Martin (Rocket City Curling Club)

Qualified via Rocket City

A team that is no doubt familiar with Bekka Mack would be Robert Martin’s rink out of Huntsville. Rocket City is represented once again at nationals this year with some new and returning faces. Martin qualified as the runner-up on home ice at the Space Race, the final qualifying event on the calendar. Martin’s team does include Lea Stall who threw lead rocks on Abbey Carlson’s team last season in St. Paul. Robert and Jessica Martin as well as Molly Hackett, who has played a few events on mixed doubles tour, are all making their first appearance at 5-and-Under nationals.

Neumann (Granite Curling Club of Seattle)

Qualified via Host Qualifier (Granite)

As with some of the other national championships, the host club has their own individual qualifier for this championship, and Team Neumann made that the only 5U event they played in all season. They came out of the event with a 6-1 record and a return to nationals for the first time in two years. At Chaska in 2024, Neumann went winless, but I don’t expect that will be the case on home ice in Seattle.

Wysocki (Stevens Point Curling Club)

Qualified via Frogtown, Kettle Moraine

With wins at Frogtown and the Midwest Cup at Kettle Moraine, Team Wysocki effectively qualified for their consecutive 5U national championship. They had a veteran skip two years ago in Chaska, and last year Wysocki skipped the team to a 5-0 record in pool play before they lost to the eventual champions in the quarterfinals. I haven’t seen anything to deter me from my optimism about this team so far this season as they posted an 18-3 record across four qualifier events. All three losses came after they’d already won their first two events. I would expect to see the boys from Stevens Point in contention for a playoff spot.

Pool B

Casey (Granite Curling Club of Seattle)

Qualified via Fairbanks

Team Casey needed just one attempt to earn themselves a chance to play for a national championship on their home ice. John Casey’s rink took full advantage of the 4-hour direct flight from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska. They went 8-0 in the marathon that is the Furthest North 5U. This bonspiel features pregame practices and timed games which should help prepare Casey to have a routine in place for nationals.

Papineau (Appleton, Milwaukee Curling Clubs)

Qualified via Madison

Last season, Johnnie Papineau had already qualified for 5U nationals playing front end for Dan Bliven before winning a qualifier event as a skip in Mapleton, Minnesota. Papineau won a silver with Bliven while his teammates brought on a new skip for the event. This season, the team again won a qualifier, but this time, they’ll have their full team playing together at nationals with Papineau skipping. The Appleton and Milwaukee combined squad put together an 18-5 record on the season and will be in the running for a top two spot in a very competitive pool.

Parira (Potomac Curling Club)

Qualified via Fort Wayne

When qualifying through an event early on in the season, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint which teams had a harder road to qualify. Looking back now on Tiyash Parira’s win at the Mad Anthony in November, four of their five opponents had at least one team member who will be curling in Seattle. Two of those opponents are full teams in the field (Mack in pool A, Papineau in pool B). I was particularly impressed with Parira’s ability to generate points with hammer in that final. The mixed team from Potomac put together a strong campaign, going 14-6 on the season. If they can play like they did in Fort Wayne, they’ll be a tough test for anyone.

Pytlarz (Silicon Valley Curling Club)

Qualified via Lake Tahoe

Jaclyn Pytlarz and company wasted no time booking their ticket to the 5-and-Under National Championship this season. The very first qualifying event on the calendar was the Tahoe Tessie women’s qualifier in Stateline, Nevada, and Pytlarz came out on top. Not included in their 8-6 season record were ties with 2025 champions Darren Campbell and 2025 4th-place finisher David Hernandez at the MoPac 5U. They have proven they can hang with anyone, especially if they are able to keep a lot of rocks in play.

Rice (Coyotes Curling Club)

Qualified via Charlotte, CurlVegas

Joe Rice’s rink has been working diligently at improving in their attempts to qualify for 5U nationals. It looked like they were going to have a chance to play for that berth in their first qualifier event of the year in Phoenix until an unfortunate wick in the semifinals ended up in a terrible position and effectively stopped them dead in their tracks. That was their only loss of the qualifier season, with the team going 17-1 across three qualifying events, winning two of them. This is a team that isn’t afraid to have rocks in play, and I’ve been impressed with Rice’s ability to call a game all year. They went 4-1 against other teams in the field this year, and 5-1 against teams who were at nationals last season.

Last year a new-to-nationals team from Coyotes won it all, can Rice repeat that feat?

Vig (Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club)

Qualified via Mapleton

Zach Vig has been a mainstay on the 5U circuit for the past few years, and finally in 2025-2026, the team was able to break through. After a runner-up finish in Duluth, which would have had the team on the outside looking into nationals once again, the Fargo-Moorhead rink was able to win Heather Curling Club’s qualifier in Mapleton, Minnesota. Last year was the first season a team from Fargo was not in the event, so it’s good to see the club represented once again on this stage. Vig went 19-6 on the season, including winning the Dakota Territory 5U regional championship. They’re another team that will be a playoff contender in the tight Pool B.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

I’ll be back in the next day or two with the introduction of all 12 teams in Pools C and D, some numbers and trends from the 5-and-Under season that was, and my podium picks for the field.

While you’re waiting for part two, be sure to tune into the playoffs of the Mixed Fours National Championship. Sheets B and C are being streamed on the Denver Curling Club YouTube channel. Schedule, standings, and scores can all be found on the Mixed Fours National Championship event hub.

Good curling!