Scot Tour Participants Announced

On behalf of the Scot Tour Committee, we would like to present the women who will be representing USWCA in Scotland. The trip is scheduled for about 3 weeks starting in October 2026.

 Congratulations to each and every one of you!

The 2026 Scots Tour is represented by six curlers from each of the Central and East regions and four from each of the West and Wisconsin Regions (names are in no particular order):

Ann Kirkpatrick - East- Belfast Curling Club
Elaine Ritchie - East- Broomstones Curling Club
Lisa Miller - East- Schenectady Curling Club
Naida Leslie - East- Nutmeg Curling Club
Jen Tschumakow (Bracy) - East- Canadian Club of Boston
Chris Battat - East- The Country Club
Alana Malik - Central- Bowling Green Curling Club
Elizabeth Demers - Central- Detroit Curling Club
Jen Mogavero - Central- Charlotte Curling Club
Tammy Hoffman - Central Circle City Curling Club
Leslie McGregor - Central- Chicago Curling Club
Kathleen Dean - Central- Cleveland Skating Club
Heather Getty - West- Four Seasons Curling Club
Nancy Powers - West- St. Paul Curling Club
Lisa Rauliuk - West- Seattle Curling Club
Nancy Mutz - West- Denver Curling Club
Sara Hein - Wisconsin- Centerville Curling Club
Terri Gleason - Wisconsin- Wausau Curling Club
Kristin Smith - Wisconsin- Milwaukee Curling Club
Kathy Pielage - Wisconsin- Madison Curling Club

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The Incoming Scot Tour, scheduled for January 2021, arrived in October 2022 after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For information about this tour, go to the Scot Tour 2021 (2022) page.

Tours to Scotland:

• 1955 - United States of America and Canada: 8 ladies from each country

• 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2016 - A tour team of 20 USWCA members

Tours to the United States:

• 1958 - A team of 16 ladies

• 1963 - 3 teams East, 3 teams West

• 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011, 2022 (delayed from 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic) - A tour team of 20 Royal Caledonia Curling Club Ladies' Branch Members

These unforgettable exchange curling tours had their beginning when a joint team of 8 Americans and 8 Canadians visited Scotland for a month in 1955. The opportunity to reciprocate some of the famous Scottish hospitality came in 1958 when 16 Scottish ladies arrived to spend 1 week in Montreal, 1 week in Ontario and 2 weeks in the USA from Illinois to Massachusetts. It was at the Winchester Country Club that this first team to visit American had their Farewell Dinner, February 8, 1958.

The first tour that was held exclusively in the USA was participated in by 24 Scottish ladies when they returned in 1963. All 6 rinks flew into Chicago and curled against members of the areas' 8 clubs. From there the team was divided, 3 rinks curling in Wisconsin and Minnesota, 3 rinks traveled east to curl in New York and Massachusetts, all were reunited once again in the Boston area.

It was in 1966 that the first exclusively American Team toured Scotland when 20 USWCA members curled at all eight of the curling centers existing at that time. As a result of this successful tour, the USWCA became the first Associate Member of the RCCC Ladies' Branch in October 1967.

At that time a definite schedule for these exchange visits of an alternate 5 year program of 3-week tours was agreed upon.

This article was written by Shirley P. Elwell of the Milwaukee Kilties and printed in the United States Women's Curling Association Historical Review 1947-1997