JOHNSON, HEBERT SET TO REPRESENT USA AT WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Photo by: Michael Woolheater
[EDEN PRAIRIE, MN, February 22, 2026] — The busy international curling schedule continues, as young teams from the United States head to the Taarnby Curling Club Denmark to compete at the World Junior Curling Championships from February 24th through March 3rd.
The World Junior Championships are restricted to players under the age of 21, and have a history of serving as a springboard for many of the world’s top players. Both Team Johnson (Allory Johnson, Gianna Johnson, Morgan Zacher, Bailey Vaydich, Ella Wendling) and Team Hebert (Caden Hebert, Jackson Bestland, Benji Paral, Jack Wendtland, Daniel Laufer) earning the right to wear American colors by capturing USA Curling Junior National titles in 2025. The teams that win the 2026 Junior Nationals this April will represent the country in 2026.
The championship features 10 teams of each gender. Countries qualified for the event based on results at the 2025 event or by earning one of three berths that were available at the World Junior-B Championships that were held this past December. At that event, Hebert captured gold and Johnson won silver. The host country also receives a berth.
“These teams have demonstrated consistent, steady improvement in recent seasons,” noted USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell. “In fact, both qualified for the 2026 U.S. Olympic Team Trials this past November, where they competed against our best men’s and women’s teams. That experience should serve them well at this high-level international event in Denmark.”
In 2025, Korea captured the women’s title and Italy won the men’s division. The championship will start with round-robin play—the top four teams of each gender will advance to the medal round.
The Curling Channel will be showcasing two feature games per day in near-broadcast quality, while all other games will be covered with stationary cameras.
More about Curling Channel subscriptions is available here.
About USA Curling
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA Curling is the National Governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling in the United States. The mission of USA Curling is to grow, strengthen, and advocate for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of curling in the United States by prioritizing accessibility and programmatic development from grassroots to podium. USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, the Dale’s family of beers, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Ice, Sports & Solar (ISS), Rock Solid Productions, Jet Ice, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling is a proud member of World Curling and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. To learn more, visit usacurling.org.
