Two more passes to the B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be handed out this weekend. Tracey Jones wants one of them.
Jones and her rink of Falon Burkitt, Kay-Lynn Thompson and Melinda Kotsch will be in Kelowna on Saturday and Sunday for the second of three qualifying events for the provincial Scotties, Jan. 6-12 at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
In Kelowna, eight teams will be vying for two berths to the B.C. tournament. The first game for Jones is Saturday morning against Marilou Richter of New Westminster.
Other rinks are skipped by Leanne Andrews (New Westminster), Amy Gibson (Vancouver), Colleen Hannah (Maple Ridge), Roberta Kuhn (Vernon), Marla Mallett (Cloverdale) and Heather Tyre (Kelowna).
Three draws are scheduled for Saturday and two more are slated for Sunday.
Teams that don't qualify this weekend will have just one chance left, Dec. 13-15 in Maple Ridge, where two final B.C. berths will be up for grabs.
The B.C. Scotties will be a 10-team tournament.
Three berths were awarded at a qualifying event Nov. 15-17 in Lake Cowichan. That weekend, spots in the B.C. Scotties were claimed by Sarah Wark, Kesa Van Osch and Shawna Jensen, all from Victoria. The Jones foursome was on the ice in Lake Cowichan but, with a 1-3 record, missed out on a berth.
Other spots in provincials belong to Kelly Scott, the four-time defending champion, and to Prince George's Patti Knezevic and Abbotsford's Allison MacInnes. Scott, from Kelowna, has a bye to provincials, while Knezevic and MacInnes were granted entry into the tournament based on their standings within the Canadian Team Ranking System.
The B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts will determine which team represents the province at the national Scotties, Feb. 1-9 in Montreal. The eventual Canadian champion will play at worlds, March 15-23 in Saint John, N.B.
Tickets for the B.C. Scotties are available at the PGGCC or by calling 250-563-0357, local 100. Full-event passes are $50. Single-game tickets will go on sale in December.
The annual Pioneer Bonspiel begins today at 1:30 p.m. at the PGGCC. Draws are also scheduled for 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Games will continue Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday's final draw starting at 3:30 p.m.
