The Zone 4 Step 1 Bonspiel is today at the Portage Curling Club.

PCI Curling Coach Lisa Shackleton says the Zone is large with a lot of curlers, so they split it into the East and West, with PCI being in the west. She says it takes a lot of curling to get to the Provincial Championships, and the first real test is today's bonspiel. "From our West side we have 6 girls teams and 7 boys teams playing off for 4 spots," says Shackleton. "Those will be our qualifying teams when we merge our top 4 teams from the west and the east side, and they'll compete for 2 provincial spots. One lady and one man."

PCI Curling Coach Lisa Shackleton

PCI has 4 men's teams competing for 2 spots, and only 1 girl's team. Shackleton says they're numbers are down on the girls side, but they're a strong, veteran rink with a bye in the first round.

"These guys know the Zone 4 play, and they're familiar with competition. So being the vet team they are they advanced to that second game right away, so they only need to win that 1 game to qualify."

Other teams heading to the bonspiel include Miami, Morden, Carman and Elm Creek. The first draw is set for 9 a.m. at the Portage Curling Club. Here's the boys draw, the girls is here.