When U.S. Steinholding Association started in 2015, our goal for the organization was to bring the best Steinholders together to push each other and elevate the sport. Now, after over a decade of preparation, the time has come and the ultimate challenge has arrived: this year's annual U.S. Steinholding Association National Steinholding Championship is coming!
On Saturday November 21st, 2026 at Cincinnati Lager House in Cincinnati, Ohio, we'll be bringing the top Steinholders from across the country together to see who will reign supreme and claim the title of the 2026 USSA National Steinholding Champions! The winners of both the men's and women's divisions will each take home the grand prize of $4,000 in cash! We'll have more details available later in the season, so stay tuned!
The Championship will be taking place during Cincinnati Lager House's Cincinnati Christkindlmarkt kick-off weekend, and there will be craft vendors, great food, live music and entertainment, and of course delicious beer! It's the perfect setting to usher in the finale to the Steinholding and Oktoberfest season and kick off the holiday season in style! We'll have the best of both worlds and the event will be open to the public, so we hope to see you there to have some fun, support your favorite Steinholder, and make sporting history with us!
To get an invitation to the National Championship, competitors will have to qualify by winning one of our State Championship Tournaments OR one of our new Wild Card Competitions! We know that there are great competitors out there in states where we haven't set up a State Championship yet, so we're opening up spots for venues to host a competition and sponsor competitors to represent them in the National Championship! Check out our listings of State Championship Tournaments here and our new Wild Card program information here. If you want to get in on the fun as a competitor, talk to your local venues and tell them to host a qualifying competition!
Note: The USSA National Championship is fully separate from Hofbräu USA's Masskrugstemmen Championship. For more information on the different programs, please check out our article How Different Steinholding Competition Types Work.
We'll be making more announcements and updates for the festivities around the National Championship event throughout the summer and fall, so check back here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more news this Steinholding season!
