It would be easy for Kelly Scott and her Kelowna curling rink to file the B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts under the been-there, done-that category.
As four-time defending champions they've won it more often than the combined total of the other nine teams gathered this week for the 2014 championship, which starts today at Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
Knowing how much fun it is to compete in a national championship, winning never gets boring for Scott and her team and they're prepared to do whatever it takes to get to the national Scotties tournament in Montreal next month.
"It hasn't been easy, and I think that's a testament to how much my teammates love this game," said Scott. "I'm proud of it just because it was all different lineups for those four teams. We had a couple years where Jeanna [third Schraeder] stepped out, and our team over the last two Olympic cycles in eight years we've had to be flexible with pregnancies and babies."
Scott, 36, is a six-time B.C. provincial women's champion who has twice won the national Scotties (in 2006 and 2007). That led to a world championship bronze medal in 2006 in Grande Prairie and gold in the 2007 world event in Japan. The Scott rink came close to qualifying for the 2006 Olympics, losing in the final to Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary.
Scott last curled in Prince George in November 2009 at the Road of the Roar event at CN Centre, where she advanced to the Roar of the Rings Olympic qualifier. This year, the Scott rink made it to the playoff round at the Road to the Roar pre-qualifier in Kitchener, Ont., but was eliminated in two playoff games while trying to advance the Olympic trials in Winnipeg.
"This was a year where you could have two major goals and the first part of the year was the Olympic spotlight we were aiming for, so we took a bit of a break and now this is definitely another big goal of the season," said Scott.
"Every big-game experience just makes you stronger and tougher and none of those games, whether you win them or lose them are bad for your experience. You just put it all behind you and take what you can from them all and hopefully we'll put it all together this week."
Scott's current lineup includes Schrader, second Sasha Carter, lead Sarah Wazney, and coach Brent Giles. Scott and Carter have curled together since their junior days in Manitoba, where they combined to win the 1995 world junior title. Carter is in her second year on the team while Schraeder, a 12-year member of the Scott rink, is back this season after a two-year leave of absence to focus more on raising her three young sons.
"This season has seemed a bit quieter than normal for us with the timing of the pre-trials, we only were able to have three events prior to that, and since then we haven't had anything so we've just focused on ice time and practicing," said the 37-year-old Schraeder.
With two Prince George teams in the event -- Patti Knezevic, whom Scott defeated in last year's B.C. final, and Tracey Jones -- that's got local curling fans a lot more interested in what transpires on the PGGCC ice this week.
"Tracey's team really had to battle for that spot and you can see how hard they wanted to make it here to play this week," said Scott. "They will be very excited to play at home and I'm sure Patti's team, having made it right to the final last year, have high hopes for their week at home.
"Those Prince George girls are always the ones travelling to the qualifying tournaments or provincials and it's nice for them to be able to perform in front of family and friends this week."
Scott faces Jones in today's opening draw at 11 a.m. The other matchups include: Knezevic vs. Shawna Jensen; Alison MacInnes vs. Sarah Wark; Karla Thompson vs. Marla Mallett; and Kesa Van Osch vs. Amy Gibson.
