Representing your home province at the national level is one thing, but then there's representing your home province nationally in your hometown.
Four players, or 23 per cent of Team B.C.'s ringette squad at the 2015 Canada Winter Games is from Prince George and Quesnel.
They include Prince George forward Sydney Irving, 18 and a trio from Quesnel defencemen Jessica MacDonald, 19 and Hannah Young, 18 and goaltender Colleen Moorhouse, 19.
"We were really nervous," admitted Young after B.C.'s 4-3 overtime loss to Nova Scotia Saturday morning at the Coliseum. "Half of our family and friends are here from Quesnel and Prince George. It really hit me when the torch came in and they lit the cauldron (at Friday's opening ceremonies). Before it just seemed like a journey, but now it's been made more real."
Team B.C. was selected in May and besides northern B.C., it's comprised of players from the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan. Since then, there's been training camps team building get-togethers on and off the ice around the province.
That's a lot of time to get ready for this week, but they agreed they're more like a family now.
"Waiting gave us a lot of time to prepare and come together as a great team," said MacDonald.
"It gave us total confidence in your teammates to be able to read each other on the ice and know where we are on the ice all the time," added Irving.
"We're no longer split into the Lower Mainland and the North, we're Team B.C now," said Moorhouse.
Saturday morning in front of a boisterous crowd that included both Nova Scotia and B.C. fans, Team B.C came out flying in the round-robin game, outshooting the Maritime squad 12-3 at one point.
But it was centre Kristi Mason and Nova Scotia who tallied first with a short-handed marker at the 6:54 mark of the first period.
B.C. responded with goals from Danielle Wall and Nina Tajbashkh to take a 2-1 lead in the first period.
Nova Scotia rebounded in the second period outhshooting B.C. 15-8 as Erica McLean and Grace Barnhart notched goals for a 3-2 lead.
Tajbashkh tied the game for B.C. with 32 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Forward Bailey Hart scored the game-winner for Nova Scotia at the 3:54 mark of sudden death overtime.
Besides Nova Scotia, B.C.'s round-robin pool A includes PEI, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
B.C. plays PEI on Monday (9 a.m.) while Nova Scotia battles Saskatchewan Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
"We're going to come out strong against PEI, learn from our mistakes, pick it up and put everything behind us," said MacDonald, adding the nerves have now been left behind. (The hometown support) is awesome, we've never been able to play an high-paced game like this in the north. We've always had to go to Vancouver or Alberta or drive six hours."
Since they're from northern B.C., they've had an up close and personal view of the the excitement building and growing leading up to Friday night and the launch of the Games.
"It was more of momentum picked up for us because we were around it more in the north here and we saw it develop," said Irving. "They (Young, MacDonald, Moorhouse) were part of the torch relay and we saw it grow in the city and everything happen. The atmosphere is incredible."
They moved into the athletes' village downtown on Thursday and had a chance to meet the rest of their fellow teammates.
"It's so nice driving downtown and everybody is honking their horns and yelling 'Go B.C.'", said Young.
B.C. takes on Saskatchewan (9 a.m.) and Alberta (2 p.m.) Tuesday to wrap up preliminary play.
The top-four teams from Pools A and B cross over to the playoff rounds that begin Wednesday.
Ontario is the defending Canada Games champion, having defeated Alberta for gold at the 2011 Games in Halifax.
