The event was originally scheduled to be held February 6 to 13 at the ImOn Ice Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[1] In August 2020, a derecho damaged the arena and the COVID-19 pandemic caused the repairs to be delayed significantly enough to necessitate moving the championships to a different venue.[2] In December 2020 the United States Curling Association (USCA) announced that, due to the continuing pandemic, the Men's, Women's, and Mixed Doubles National Championships would be postponed until May 2021 and would be conducted in a bio-secure bubble. Typically, the winner of the National Women's Championship would represent the United States at the World Championship, but this postponement moved the national championship after the 2021 World Women's Championship and so the USCA offered the spot at World's to the 2020 champion, Team Peterson.[3] The site of the bubble for the championships was later announced to be Wausau Curling Club in Wausau, Wisconsin.[4]
Qualification[]
Due to the pandemic, no qualification events were held and the qualification methods were modified. The top eight women's teams, determined by the World Curling Federation's World Team Ranking System, were invited to compete.[3] Seven of the eight teams accepted the invitation.[5] Typically, the qualification methods would be the top four teams from the World Team Ranking System, the top three teams from a qualification event, and one team from the Junior Championship.
Teams[]
The seven teams competing in the 2021 championship are:[5]
Team Christensen
Jamie Sinclair
Fargo, North Dakota
Fairbanks, Alaska
