(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) – Following the cancellation of October’s postponed version of the 2020 USA Curling College Championship, the decision to cancel all College Tour events through January 1, 2021 has been made.

With the overall health of athletes, coaches, and event organizers at the forefront, the College Curling Committee and USA Curling agreed on the decision to cancel these events.

In lieu of in-person competition for the Fall 2020 Semester, the College Curling Committee pursued a suggestion made by Jack Schroeder (Harvard), a member of the Student Advisory Group, to develop a Virtual College Curling Tour and Championship for the Fall 2020 Semester. The approval to move forward on this idea has been given by USA Curling CEO Jeff Plush.

“We hated to postpone the spring 2020 championship and now cancel for this fall, but are appreciative of the support from the college curling community during these challenging times,” said Plush. “While under an unfortunate set of circumstances, we are excited to fully embrace the Virtual College Curling Championship and are looking forward to the future of curling at the collegiate level.”

Details of the Virtual College Curling Tour and Championship will be finalized in the coming weeks, but the eligibility requirements of the on-ice tour will be maintained.

• Participants must be full-time students in a degree program at the school that they will represent.

• All participants must be members of the United States Curling Association (USCA) and register with the USCA as a virtual college curling participant.

• All participation in the games played will be accrued to the school that the player belongs.

• Invitations will be administered to schools, rather than individual competitors.

USA Curling looks forward to working with the College Curling Committee in support of the inaugural Virtual College Curling Tour and Championship.

With 175 colleges and universities currently supporting eSports at the varsity level, the Virtual College Curling Tour and Championship will broaden the exposure of curling within a younger demographic while fulfilling the immediate need of a College Curling Tour for registered student-athletes.

“Virtual curing is free of limitations that geography imposes,” said Gordon Maclean, Chair, USCA College Curling Committee.  “One of the biggest challenges of on-ice college curling is expanding the sport into areas where there are schools with on-ice curling facilities, but no other college competition nearby.”