UPDATE
College student curling was first established at the Indianhead Curling Club (now the Eau Claire Curling Club) in the late 1980’s. Bob Scott, a long-time Eau Claire curler since 1966, (will still be a club member in 2025-2026) played a key role in its development. He was approached by representatives from the Illinois State Curling Association (ISCA) who visited Eau Claire to discuss forming a College Curling Association and encouraging regional competitions.
At the time of the discussions with ISCA, Bob Scott was a faculty member in the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire’s Kinesiology Department and had curled in Canada and the US. He agreed to serve as the faculty advisor for a student curling program operating under University Recreation. The program was designated a co-ed Club Sport, and students—especially those with prior curling experience—were actively recruited, particularly from cities with curling clubs. Bob helped establish a strong relationship between the student club and the Indianhead Curling Club, arranging for the students to use the facility’s ice.
UW–Eau Claire student awareness expanded and they began participating in bonspiels and regional tournaments. As interest in college curling grew and more universities became involved, the Illinois State Curling Foundation helped support and promote the idea of national competition. The college circuit grew from the late 1980s with the (Click) first national college bonspiel. It was held in the early 1990s among just a few schools in northern Illinois and Wisconsin including UW-Eau Claire, UW-Madison, UW-Green Bay, UW-Superior, and a college in Illinois. This event was hosted at the Indianhead Curling Club in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Early events of this type were organized by volunteer groups and local clubs (often around Chicago), and they laid the groundwork for a formal championship. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, college curling expanded gradually as more university clubs formed. By 2008, the national tournament had grown to 34 teams, divided into four divisions by experience level, and was held at Chicago-area rinks. In that Inaugural 2008 bonspiel, the Division 1 winner was University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire,
In September 2013, the College Championship became a United States Curling Association (USCA) sanctioned event. In 2018 the National Tournament was held at the Eau Claire Curling Club with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point winning the top honors. The (Click) USA Curling College National Championship is currently an annual tournament that crowns the nation’s top collegiate curling team.
A (Click) February 20, 2019 article in the Spectator, UW- Eau Claire's student newspaper, provides background information about the University's Student Curling Club.
More information about College Curling is available at Wikipedia.
