Kelly Scott may be seven years removed from her last national title, but the skip from Kelowna is determined to climb back to the top of women's curling world.
As the provincial championship playoffs at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club get underway this weekend, Scott is exactly where she wants to be as she tries to qualify for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the ninth time in the past 10 years.
But a lot has changed during her decade of dominance on the B.C. curling scene as the players have grown in their off ice careers and family commitments have increased.
"It hasn't been easy, there's lots of juggling with pregnancies and children," Scott said Friday after finishing the round robin in second place with a 7-2 record. "But we love it too much to give it up."
As new priorities have entered their lives over the years, the Scott rink has had to adjust to how they prepare for provincial, national and international competition. Whereas in the past they practiced together regularly and had off-ice sessions as a group to work on the mental side of the game, now the team only meets once a week for regular league play.
On top of that, each player practices one-on-one with their coaches throughout the week so that when they do meet up for games, things come together smoothly.
"It takes a lot of work," Scott said of maintaining an elite level of play. "It's somewhat of a full-time job and then you have your jobs and careers."
One noticeable impact of playing fewer games and holding fewer group practices is that the Scott rink isn't as consistent as it has been in the past, but the skip believes they still have the ability to come together in the big games.
"We know what we're capable of when we're on and certainly we could win a Canadian championship," she said, adding that it's still a long way off since the team still needs to get through the rest of the B.C. playdowns.
Along with third Jenna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter and lead Sarah Waney, the Scott rink has been near the top the standings and the stats sheet since the B.C. Scotties opened on Monday morning. Now the team is looking to finish off the week with yet another B.C. title and improve on their last two national Scotties appearances - a second-place finish in 2012 and third-place result last year.
Getting to and winning the final is becoming increasingly difficult in the women's game as the field seems to get deeper every year. When Scott made the jump from a national and world junior title in 1995, it took her a few years to reach the top echelon in the women's division, but she noted that current junior teams need much less time to adjust.
"They're really well coached and really knowledgeable about the game as soon as they step out of the junior ranks," Scott said. "It's definitely changed and the whole Olympic movement has made the game a more professional game rather a hobby."
Defending national champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa is the latest example. In just her second year of eligibility she won the Tournament of Hearts and placed third at the world championship.
"It used to be where you wanted your back end on the experienced, veteran side but the young skips and thirds coming out now, they don't miss a beat," Scott said. "You see the young 20-year-old teams like Rachel Homan - and there are certainly others you can name off - and then you see the ones trying to hang on and trying to use their experience as a weapon."
Scott's experience has paid off this week, given her knowledge of the championship ice conditions installed in Prince George and the rocks used during the competition. But she doesn't consider herself as one of those teams "trying to hang on" just yet.
"We still feel that we're competitive with the top teams in the country and world and it's hard to just pack it in and turn your backs on that when you're right in the mix of things," she said.
