TOURNAMENTS

U.S. NATIONAL KUBB CHAMPIONSHIP
July 14 and 15 - Eau Claire, WI
Defending Champions:
Knockerheads (Des Moines, IA / Leavenworth, KS)


Purchase the official set of the
U.S. National Championship, through WI Kubb, from Old Time Games.

2012 U.S. Championship info

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ALL TOURNAMENTS
Eau Claire, Minneapolis, Rockford, Madison, Decorah, Appleton, Des Moines, Dallas
2007 - 2011 tournament results / 2012 schedule

January 06
We are exicted to release the 2012 edition of Kubbnation Magazine. Enjoy!!

December 26
If you are looking to play some winter kubb, Minnesota Kubb is hosting the largest winter kubb tournament ever in the U.S. on February 04. It is part of a ski race event in Minneapolis with 1,000s of people. Remember, tournaments are just one big kubb party.

December 22
Over the past few months, we have worked hard with Des Moines Kubb to update the U.S. Championship rules. These rules follow the Kubb World Championship. They are now available. One minor change is that there is only one initial toss at the king to determine what team picks if they go first or pick what side they want. This is what they do at the Kubb WC. A big thanks to DMK.

December 13
This evening, the Eau Claire City Council passed the resolution. Eau Claire, WI is officially the Kubb Capital of North America. Thank you to everyone.

December 06
If you are looking to play some winter tournament kubb, Minnesota Kubb is hosting the largest winter kubb tournament ever in the U.S. on February 04. It is part of a ski race event in Minneapolis with 1,000s of people. Remember, tournaments are just one big kubb party.

Tournament pitches will be set up on Lake Calhoun just west of Tin Fish Restaurant near the Snow Sculpture Contest. Additional pitches will be available for non-participants to learn and play the game. Find one of our Kubb Ambassadors who can explain the game and get you started on your own game. Fire pits will be available to warm up participants and spectators. Hot cocoa, beer, food and bathrooms facilities will be available throughout the day.

December 02
The 2012 Kubbnation Magazine will be released in the second week of January. You can find updates here and on the U.S. National Kubb Championship Facebook page.

November 18
We are BIG time excited to announce that the first ever U.S. National Kubb Championship University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Scholarship (awarded annually to a student who will be studying abroad in one of the Nordic countries) was given out this past week. She will be studying next semester in Växjö, Sweden.

"Kubb unites people and creates peace on Earth."

October 28
The kings for the U.S. National Kubb Championship have been painted. 51 of them, to be exact. It took several coats and a wrong blue that needed to be painted over, but it got done. Red on top. White in the middle. Blue below the white. Then a small strip of yellow on the bottom. The red, white, and blue need no explaining. The strip of yellow (next to the blue) represents and pays respect to Sweden, the home of the Kubb World Championship. You can see pictures on the tournament Facebook page Friday morning.

October 02
What a way to finsh the 2011 Tournament Season at the Dallas Oktoberfest. Teams from WI, MN, and IA. Kubbnation put on a great show in Dallas, WI. In a village of 356 people, the kubb tournament increased that population by over 20% between players, friends, and family. The 10 pitches were surrounded by spectators all day. We feel like we added a ton to the Oktoberfest. Thanks to everyone.

September 24
Des Moines Fall Kubb Klassic Results:
1. Knockerheads (IA/KS)
2. King Pin (MN/IA)
3. Sweden's Sons (WI)
4. Wolf Pack (MN)
T5. The Ringers, (WI)
More results. This was an AMAZING tournament.

September 14
What is happening October 1st in Dallas, WI? First and foremost, there is a 20 team kubb tournament (that has a long waiting list to get in). Oh yeah, there is also the 15th annual Dallas Oktoberfest. If you have never been, this is the year to go...trust us. There is even going to be a keg-a-pult. Read more here.

September 08
The 2nd annual Des Moines Fall Kubb Klassic is now two weeks away. Over 20 teams (five plus states) have already registered. There is still plenty of time to register. This is being hosted by the same group that came to Eau Claire with kubb decals on their cars. You know this going to be a party. Looking at hotel rates, there are a lot of good prices to be had. Contact Des Moines Kubb for the location to look at for hotels.

September 02
New information regarding the 96-team 2012 U.S. National Kubb Championship is available. The dates of the tournament are July 14 and 15. You will notice some large changes: two-day tournament and minimum of three players on a team. You will also find some smaller changes: team t-shirt contest, raffle, Swedish brats will make a comeback, etc. The goal has always been to create an environment that is fair and enjoyable for all. We feel that the 2012 U.S. Championship will continue to do that. We hope you decide to come to Eau Claire to play kubb in 2012.

August 30
Dallas Oktoberfest Kubb Tournament team list is available.

August 28
It was a great day for Wisconsin kubb and kubb as a whole in Appleton, WI yesterday. Teams traveled from Madison and the Chippewa Valley to play in the 2nd Annual Fox Valley Kubb Tournament. Thanks to the Fox Valley Kubb Club for hosting the tournament.

August 26
Tomorrow. Appleton, WI. Kubb Tournament. Results will be posted here on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

August 24
A lot of people have asked questions about the Kubb World Championship and how it differs from tournaments here in the U.S. and/or the U.S. Championship. Obviously their top talent is a lot deeper than ours, as they have been playing a lot longer than 99 percent of us have.

The one big thing that stood out was the diversity of teams. Again, you have to have at least six people on a team at the WC. Aside from the obvious all male teams, there were numerous teams that were all women in the 40s or 50s and teams of all women in their 20s. There were teams with three couples with an average age of 70. There were teams of young teenagers. Simply, ever age and gender category possible had teams.

I often hear from people when I ask them to play in a tournament, that they are not good enough and that is why they do not want to play. Being at the WC reinforced my belief that these tournaments are competitions, yes, but they are so much more than that. They are a celebration of kubb and a means to have a great relaxing day with friends and/or family. Every team at the Kubb WC was having a great time, and trust me when I say that the overwhelming number of teams were there to see how far they could go (knowing they would not make the final eight or so) and take part in the largest kubb party in the world, on an island right in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

August 18
The second big change for the U.S. National Championship is minimum team size. For a lot of you, this is not an issue, as you play on three or more person teams already. For others, this will be a change. For both the two day tournament and increasing team size, I wanted to give everyone notice as far in advance as possible, as I do not think of this tournament as my tournament, but our tournament.

In 2007, we started this tournament with not so many people knowing about kubb. We set the teams as having at least two people for each team. That was out of necessity and not knowing much about what was happening in Europe with kubb tournaments. Well, five years later kubb is becoming a lot more popular, and we are learning that many tournaments in Europe have six-person teams and very few have two-person teams. At the same time, the Eau Claire tournament is steadily growing (on average 16 new teams a year) and we want to include everyone. It is hard to know what the future holds for the number of teams that come to Eau Claire to play in the National Championship, but since 2009 we have always tried to be a legitimate tournament on par with what we knew was happening in Europe. We think that we have accomplished that goal.

As I mentioned in the discussion about the two-day tournament change, we have never done anything with a quick decision or without thinking about players. We have thought things out and weighed pros and cons. After thinking about this for two years, talking to players playing here in Eau Claire and other tournaments, and talking to people from around the world and playing on a six-person team in Sweden, having more than two people on a team is true team kubb. There is so much more strategy, pressure, excitement, and energy. With two, there is one high-five. With three there are three high-fives. With two, you share your joys and frustration with one. With three, you double it. With that, the U.S. National Championship will be switching to a minimum of three-person teams starting in 2012.

There have been dozens of three-person teams that have played in all the tournaments around the Midwest over the past five years. A couple really stick out. Peanut Butter Root Beer Snakes won in Eau Claire back in 2008. The Skipping Stones, Team Lutefisk, Lakerol Originals, Red Cedar River Yacht Club, I could go on and on. I think about Odin's Own from Philly in Rockford this Spring. Three guys making a 1000 mile journey to play kubb together. What energy that team brought to Rockford. A few have stated that they like the two-player format, mostly because they have their two people. Perhaps it is a husband/wife or father/daughter. I am in the same boat, as nothing in kubb has been more special to me than to play with my dad in the three tournaments that we played in together. Two of them were just us two. However, we did team up with my friend a third time. Looking back, I found that to be more of a test and at the same time more enjoyable. My friend Ethan was not a third wheel, oh no. Ethan was part of the team and he increased the energy, enjoyment, and excitement for the team that day. My dad and I both believe that.

Two Saturday nights ago, I was sitting in an enclosed patio of a house out in the countryside of southern Gotland. I was talking with five young men of a Gotland team called Signalgatan. When questioning them about six-person teams, throwing one baton, and if it is really more enjoyable for them. I will never forget their answers and their seriousness for the sport. For them, it is the only way to be played. There is so much that goes into it. We will be able to experience it so much more with three-person teams for our National Championship, and I am excited for the tournament to head in that direction.

I look forward to this next chapter of the U.S. National Kubb Championship.

August 16
After a lot of thought and discussion about the U.S. National Championship, there are going to be a few changes happening in the next couple of years. The first of which is we are happy to have created an annual UWEC scholarship for a student studying abroad in one of the five Nordic countries. We are very excited about this. We feel this 100% meets the intent of the saying - Kubb unites people and creates peace on Earth.

The second change is quite a bit bigger. We have heard from a lot of people, especially through the surveys from the past two years that they would like to watch the Championship Match, but it is too late. At the same time, well over 80 percent want every team to make the playoffs and do not want time limits in the playoffs. In addition, for a variety of reasons we cannot have any future tournaments ending after 9pm like we did this year (10:15pm), or even after 7pm. After looking at all of these things and having a few conversations with a variety of different teams, the U.S. National Kubb Championship will now become a two day tournament. The final 16 or eight teams will come back Sunday morning and compete. There is a lot more that will go into this (Consolation Bracket Semifinal and Championship in front of the bleachers on Saturday, local promotions for both days, at least another five or six new ideas that might happen, ending earlier enough Sunday to get people on the road to travel home, etc.). We have never wanted to make extreme changes too quickly with this tournament, and we hope that we are keeping with that process. However, this tournament has gotten so large, interest continues to grow, and we want to respect what we feel the vast majority of the teams would like, so this will start in 2012. Another rather large announcement will be coming later this week.

August 12
Eric Anderson of Wisconsinkub.com played on the Stockholm team The Emigrants at the 191-team Kubb World Championship in Sweden. They made it to the final 16.

July 14
That one-day record lasted one day. July 11th had 177 unique visitors.

 

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