They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.
Well if you want to see bright, check out the halogens the Prince George Golf and Curling Club has just installed to shine on 10 of the province's top women's curling teams next week at the B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
They'll light up the joint like never before, perfect for the Sportsnet TV cameras that will beam the tournament semifinal and final to a nationwide audience next weekend.
The Scotties starts Monday at 11 a.m. and for curling fans who want to sit up close to the action, the local organizing committee has taken the unprecedented step of setting up temporary bleachers right at ice level on either side for the seven-day event.
Prince George will host the 2015 Canada Winter Games and the Scotties will serve as a Games test event for the sport's local organizers, who know they will to go the extra mile in 2015. The ice-level bleachers (an alcohol-prohibited zone) aren't required for the Scotties but they are for the Canada Games. Same rule applies to the line of statisticians/restaurant tables that now occupy the top row of the inside viewing area at the end of the ice. If they have to do it that way in 2015, might as well bring it on now for the Scotties.
The rink has recently installed overhead cameras above the rings that will offer birds-eye views at either end of of all five sheets, taking some of the guesswork out of determining who holds shot rock. Sheet 3 will be the focus of Sportsnet cameras for the Scotties playoff rounds and The Brick has donated 60-inch and 70-inch TVs for the event to enhance coverage for spectators in the building.
Gone are the days when one rink represented each zone at the Scotties. That made it possible for an unprecedented two Prince George skips, Patti Knezevic and Tracey Jones, to qualify this year. The field includes four-time defending champion (Kelly Scott of Kelowna), two Canadian Team Ranking System points qualifiers (Knezevic and Allison MacInnes of Abbotsford), and seven rinks who got there by winning bonspiel playoffs. That list includes Marla Mallett (Cloverdale), Sarah Wark (Victoria), Kesa Van Osch (Victoria), Amy Gibson (Vancouver), Karla Thompson (Kamloops) and Shawna Jensen (Victoria).
"Now it's the 10 best women's teams in the province that come out, not just the best from each zone, so you're guaranteed good curling," said tournament co-chair Vonda Hofferd. "Prince George has a good solid curling base, so even if there wasn't a Prince George team, you would still get good attendance but it is nice to see some locals in. It will get the crowd going."
The first draw Monday features MacInnes against Wark, Thompson against Mallet, Jensen against Knezevic, Scott against Jones, and Van Osch against Gibson.
Hofferd says it's unfortunate scheduling that Knezevic and Jones play each other Wednesday morning at 11, rather than the evening draw at 6:30 p.m., which rules out some of the working crowd from watching the two local rinks go head to head. But there's always a chance they will meet again in the Page playoff round.
The winner of the Sunday, Jan. 12 final moves on to the national Scott Tournament of Hearts, Feb. 1-9 in Montreal.
The all-star field will no doubt draw a crowd and with the seating capacity limited to about 400, Hofferd advises fans not to leave it too late to buy their tickets, which were half-sold out by Friday afternoon. Single-draw passes are $5 each with the tickets for the final are $10 each. An event pass good for all 13 draws costs $50.
n Hofferd is stepping down this weekend as co-chair, handing off the duties to Jim Horswell to allow her to take on the job as chief umpire. B.J. Gagnon of Abbotsford is the head ice technician, with help from Murray Kutyn of the Prince George club.
