The Space Race
5-and-Under Bonspiel
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Event
Details
The Rocket City Curling Club is excited to announce that our fifth annual Space Race 5U Bonspiel will be held on March 27 - 29, 2026 in Huntsville, AL. This bonspiel is open to all players with 5 or fewer years of eligibility (2020 does not count towards eligibility— click here for details). Teams can be made up of any combination of men and women.
The Space Race will also be a Qualifier Event for USA Curling's 2026 Five-and-Under National Championship. The winner will be invited to be one of 24 teams competing at the 5U National Championship in April 2026.
In addition to competitive 5U teams, we highly encourage new teams to consider making The Space Race your first bonspiel! We think that once you've attended your first bonspiel, you'll be hooked on curling for life!
Up to 32 team spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The price is $480 per team. This includes a 3 game guarantee for the event, with all meals provided.
On Saturday night we'll play our Shooting Stars 50/50 game. Purchase some stars at the merch table, and then meet up on the balcony after the last draw (about 9 PM) and we'll throw hundreds of stars out onto the ice. Whoever comes closest to the target wins half the proceeds (up to $500 payout). There will also be some targets for drink vouchers and other fun gifts!
We'll also have our Basket Drawing Saturday night. Rocket City club members will be putting together an assortment of great gift baskets that we'll raffle off. If your team would like to bring a gift basket to throw into the mix, we'd love to have it!
Please contact us at bonspiels@rocketcitycurlingclub.org if you have any questions.
Starting at Noon CST on Sunday, December 7, 2025, all teams can register using the links below.
Schedule
Thursday
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Meet & Greet reception at Back Forty Beer Company, 3254 Leeman Ferry Rd SW, Huntsville, AL 35801
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Great craft beer
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Delicious Food
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Starting at around 7:00 PM or so in the upstairs area
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Totally informal. Just pop in for drinks or maybe dinner and hang with your fellow curlers.
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Friday
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Breakfast provided 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
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Continental assortment of pastries, fruit, coffee
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Draws at 8:00 AM and 10:20 AM
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Lunch provided 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
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Soup and Potato Bar featuring clam chowder, chili, and broccoli cheddar soup.
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Draws at 12:40 PM and 3:20 PM
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Dinner provided 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
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Home Cooking Extravaganza with meatloaf, lemon garlic cream tilapia, pork loin with gravy, lemon pepper gravy, mashed taters, rice, sherry cream brussel sprouts, and roasted vegetables.
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Draws at 5:40 PM and 8:00 PM
Saturday
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Breakfast provided 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
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Continental assortment of pastries, fruit, coffee
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Draws at 9:00 AM and 11:20 AM
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Lunch provided 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
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Brad's Famous Homemade BBQ featuring pulled pork, turkey, and sausage with mac and cheese, baked beans, slaw, and potato salad.
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Draws at 1:40 PM and 4:20 PM
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Dinner provided 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
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Italian Feast including meatball marinara with pasta, check alfredo, vodka chicken, vegetable pesto pasta, Italian sausages with peppers and onions, seasoned green beans and corn, and Caesar's salad.
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Draw at 6:40 PM
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Late Night Fun
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Shooting Stars 50/50 Contest on the balcony above the ice at 9:00 PM
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Basket Drawings in the Party Room beginning at 9:15 PM
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Stephen's World Famous Tuna Melts to snack on!
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Sunday
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Breakfast provided 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
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Continental assortment of pastries, fruit, coffee, and featuring Laura's Mom's Banana Nut Bread
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Draw at 9:00 AM
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Piping in and Championship Draw at 11:30 AM
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Trophy presentations immediately following the games
Brackets
During the bonspiel, we'll be updating scores in real time on our Bonspieler page. Click the link below!
The brackets and team rosters can be found here:
Also, click here for a link to our bonspiel rules.
Shirts
PRE-ORDER YOUR SHIRTS BY SUNDAY March 8, 2026
All pre-ordered shirts will be available for pickup at the bonspiel starting March 27, 2026. We will also have very limited quantity of shirts available to purchase on site. But once they're gone, they're gone. So if you really want one, you should definitely pre-order!
The shirt is a buttery soft Triblend (50% polyester / 25% combed ringspun cotton / 25% rayon) in heathered black. And this year, we also have a sweatshirt available!
This design will only be available in 2026. If you miss it now, it's gone!
The pre-order sale will end on 11:59PM on March 8th, so be sure to place your order before then to secure your shirt.
Visit this link or click the button below to order.
Brooms Up
Curling Supplies
[UPDATE 3/24/2026] Unfortunately, we just heard from Gary and he's a bit under the weather. Brooms Up isn't going to be able to make it down to Space Race with their trailer this year. Sorry about that.
Brooms Up Curling Supplies will be on site Saturday, from 11 AM to 7 PM with their trailer full of brooms, shoes, gloves, replacement heads, and everything else you could possibly need!. Just visit their trailer out in front of the Ice Sports Center anytime Friday evening through Sunday morning.
Hotel Info
We don't have a reserved block of rooms, but many visiting teams like to stay at the Hampton Inn in south Huntsville, only 6 minutes from the Ice Sports Center where the bonspiel is being held.
Hampton Inn, Huntsville-Arsenal/South Parkway
501 Boulevard South SW
Huntsville, AL 35802
There are also many hotels and AirBnB's in all price ranges in the area, including in and around historic downtown Huntsville.
Sponsors
WE'RE SOLD OUT
But please click the 'Registration' button to join our waitlist. We frequently have a few teams drop out.
