Prince George, B.C. – Some of the top curlers from around the province have gathered in Prince George for the 2014 B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts, running Monday through next Sunday at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.

Ten rinks are entered in the provincial women’s curling championship, with the winner representing B.C. at the 2014 national Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship in Montreal, Feb. 1st to 9th.  Two Prince George rinks, skipped by Tracey Jones and Patti Knezevic, join seven others in the bid to dethrone defending B.C. champ Kelly Scott (pictured right) of Kelowna.  The competing rinks include Amy Gibson of Vancouver, Shawna Jensen of Victoria, Allison MacInnes from Abbotsford, Cloverdale’s Marla Mallett, Karla Thompson of Kamloops, Kesa Van Osch of Victoria and Sarah Wark, also out of Victoria.

The week-long event is the first in a dozen ‘test’ events scheduled in Prince George this winter, in preparation for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.  PGG&CC Curling Coordinator, Jana Peters, says new lighting has been installed in anticipation of the Scotties and next year’s Games.  “You can actually say the change has been from night to day,” says Peters.  “It’s beautiful and is going to make a huge difference for viewing from the gallery.”

There is also some new equipment that the officials will be testing out.  But, Peters says, the volunteers at the club are a well-established group.  “They’ve done this for years – they’re very, very good,” she says.  “So we’re not behind when it comes to the Winter Games.  In fact, we’re probably ahead of a lot of the venues.  The challenge with the Games is that it will be the full two weeks because the girls play one week and the boys play the other.”

This week’s Scotties is the largest curling event to be held in Prince George since the Road to the Roar in 2009 and the 2000 Scott Tournament of Hearts, both of which were held at CN Centre.

Round robin play begins tomorrow, with two draws (11am and 6:30pm) each day through Thursday.  Knezevic faces Jensen while Jones tangles with the Scott foursome in Monday's opening draw.  Three draws are tentatively set for Friday.  The round robin concludes at 9:30am, tiebreakers, if necessary, will go at 2:30pm, and the first quarter-finals go at 7 Friday night.  The other quarters go at noon Saturday, with the semi-finals played at 7 Saturday night.  The championship final is set for 5 Sunday afternoon.

Round robin single tickets are $5 each while finals tickets are $10.  Tickets are available at the door.