USA Curling Awards 2018 National Championships to Fargo

USA Curling has announced that the American National Championships will return to Fargo, North Dakota, in 2018.

The Scheels Arena will stage the event between March 3 and 10, with competition due to take place shortly after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games which will be held in February.

It means that top-class curling will return to North Dakota after Fargo previously staged the National Championships in 2011.

The city also held the US team trials for the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

USA Curling opted for Fargo over rival bids from Kalamazoo in Michigan, Omaha in Nebraska, Downers Grove in Illinois and two bids from Utah - from Provo and Ogden.

"Bringing the USA Curling nationals back to the Fargo-Moorhead area is a treat for everyone involved, from the competitors who love playing in Scheels Arena to the families, fans, officials and staff who get to be part of this first-class championship experience and all that the area has to offer," said Rick Patzke, USA Curling’s chief executive officer.

"The great people at the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, Athletic Commission and Curling Club have outdone themselves with each subsequent event we have had there, and no doubt the same thing will happen again. 

"With the 2018 Olympics serving as a springboard to concentrate curling fever back in the land that prides itself on being 'North of Normal', this will be a can’t-miss event."

Scheels Arena has room for 5,000 people and is also home to the ice hockey team Fargo Force. 

"The Fargo Moorhead Curling Club and our members are very excited to be working with Scheels Arena and the City of Fargo to bring the men’s and women’s nationals event back to Fargo in 2018," said Steve Scheels, President of the Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club. 

"With this event happening shortly after the 2018 Olympics, this will be a great opportunity for not only our curling club members, but for people from around our region and across the country to come to Fargo and experience the great game of curling being played at the top level in our country."