One of B.C.'s biggest curling events will come to Duncan in January 2017.
Curl BC made the formal announcement on Monday that the Duncan Curling Club will host the 2017 BC Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Glen Harper Curling Centre.
Televised on Sportsnet, the 2017 Scotties could be the first step toward qualification for the 2017 Roar of the Rings Olympic Curling Trials.
According to organizing committee co-chair Brent Dellebuur, the Scotties will be the biggest event the Duncan Curling Club has ever tackled.
"We're really, really, really excited about being able to host this," he said. "As far as I know, it's the biggest event we've ever hosted. I've been involved the last 25 years, and I don't think we've ever had a televised event come out of our club. There will be headaches and challenges, but we're also looking forward to showing what it is our club can do."
With a five-sheet facility at the Glen Harper Curling Centre, the club was "on the edge" of being able to host the Scotties, which requires four sheets. The facility has been the site of the B.C. mixed championship multiple times in the past, most recently in 2014.
"After successfully hosting the mixed championship two or three times, we thought we'd take a charge at something bigger," Dellebuur said. "We picked the ladies' because it only required four sheets of ice."
Holding the six-sheet men's championship isn't out of the question, however. Although the club couldn't hold that event at the Glen Harper Curling Centre, the Island Savings Centre would be a possible site.
"If [the 2017 Scotties] is a successful event, we may take a run at the B.C. men's," Dellebuur said. "First we'll make sure that we do a proper job of this one."
Curl BC also announced Monday that Abbotsford will host the 2017 Canadian Direct BC Men's Championship.
"We are thrilled that Duncan and Abbotsford will be staging these championship events in 2017," Curl BC competitions and high performance manager Shannon Aleksic said. "They are both excellent clubs with a history of staging successful competitions and I am sure they will be amazing hosts."
The Duncan club is currently preparing to host the Island masters playdowns on Jan. 29-31.