History of 5U
The 5-and-Under category — open to curlers with five years of experience or fewer — didn’t begin with a formal championship. For years before any national or international event existed, clubs and regional organizations were already running 5U bonspiels of their own: low-pressure, community-focused events designed to give newer players competitive experience in fields where skill levels were more closely matched, and good games more reliably the result. The philosophy was simple — newer curlers deserve meaningful competition, not just participation.
A National Stage
In 2019 and 2020, the United States Women’s Curling Association partnered with USA Curling to host national-level 5-and-Under events at the Duluth Curling Club and the Wausau Curling Club, among the first attempts to give the category formal competitive structure at scale.
USA Curling formalized the category beginning in 2021, establishing an annual 5-and-Under National Championship that has grown into one of the most anticipated events on the domestic curling calendar. Unlike many national qualifiers, the championship placed no regional restrictions on entry, encouraging teams to travel across the country and compete outside their usual circuits. The field has grown in size and depth every year, with the level of play rising alongside it — a sign of how seriously the curling community has embraced the category. For the full record of national champions, see USA Curling’s past champions page.
The Idea of Something Bigger
Among the competitors who came through USA Curling’s nationals over those years were Grant Robertson and Matt Apesos. Competing at the nationals gave them a firsthand view of how quickly the category was growing — in participation, in competitive depth, and in the reach it was developing across the American curling community. That growth raised a question neither could quite let go of: why did nothing like this exist at the international level?
Countries outside the US had their own developing players with no international pathway. The experience of competing alongside people from different clubs and different backgrounds — one of the things that made the nationals special — felt like something that could and should cross borders. In the spring of 2024, Robertson and Apesos began working to make that happen.
Pittsburgh, January 2025
The inaugural Five and Under World Championship was held at the Pittsburgh Curling Club in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, from January 10–12, 2025. Sixteen teams competed, drawn from across the United States and internationally — including entrants from Canada, Israel, the Philippines, and a Pan-Asia representative team. It was the first 5-and-Under event to bring together players from multiple countries under one roof, and the first to offer newer curlers a genuinely international competitive experience.
Kettle Moraine, December 2025
The second edition was originally scheduled for the Wauwatosa Curling Club in December 2025. In the months before the event, Wauwatosa suffered significant flood damage, leaving the club unable to host. The organizing team moved quickly, reaching out to clubs across the Milwaukee area, and Kettle Moraine Curling Club stepped in on short notice.
The 2025 Five and Under World Championship ran December 11–14 at Kettle Moraine, with a field that was larger and more internationally diverse than the inaugural event. The willingness of the curling community to rally around the event — and of Kettle Moraine to take it on without hesitation — reflected something real about what 5U has become.
Looking Ahead
The Five and Under World Championship is actively working to expand its international footprint — hosting events across different countries and building relationships with national curling bodies around the world, so that newer curlers everywhere have a path to international competition.