Gananoque will be the launching spot for two rinks with aspirations of going on to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Prince Edward next month.
Step one is to win one of two berths at the 16-rink regional at the Gananoque Curling Club this weekend.
The regional is one of the qualifiers for rinks to advance to the Ontario championship, Jan. 24 to 30 in Thornhill.
It is from that 10-rink provincial field that Ontario’s entry will be decided for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship at the Charlottetown Civic Centre, Feb. 19 to 27.
Two years from now the same regional to provincial to national format will be followed to determine the field for the 2013 Scotties, which will be held at the K-Rock Centre.
There is a good chance that one of the rinks in Gananoque could well be the Ontario entry coming into the K-Rock Centre in 2013.
There obviously is a lot of curling before then.
However, it all begins at Gananoque this time around with an excellent field looking for those two coveted spots from the double knockout playdown, which will send them to the provincial field.
The odds-on favourite in the field will be Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, the Canadian junior champion from last year.
Homan’s rink of Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle is the No. 1 money-winning team on the Ontario Curling Tour with $21,200 in earnings. Homan is also 16th ranked in the country.
Homan knows the ice at Gananoque too. She won her 2009 provincial junior title at the four-sheet club on William Street.