The Clancy Grandy rink will wear the colours of Team B.C. to kick off the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops tonight.

Grandy and her Vancouver Curling Club rink that includes third Kayla MacMillan, second Lindsay Dubue, and lead Sarah Loken will take on P.E.I’s Suzanne Birt in the opening draw of the Scotties at 6 p.m. from the Sandman Centre.

“The thing I’m really looking forward to is the fact that all four of us as a team are getting to experience this for the first time together,” Grandy told NL Sports.

You’ll have to forgive the Kamloops curling fans if it takes a second for them to warm up to Team B.C. at the Scotties.

Team Grandy edged the Kamloops Corryn Brown rink 10-9 in the B.C. Scotties final in January to earn the right to represent the province in Kamloops.

Kamloops, here is your Team BC…Team Clancy Grandy! #STOH2023 pic.twitter.com/tjcLbQBwxT

— TSN Curling (@TSNCurling) February 17, 2023

“They are an amazing team. They would have obviously been great representatives for B.C. but we’re super grateful to have the opportunity,” Grandy said. “It doesn’t come around very often that you get to be a home province team.”

“You could have quite a long successful career at the Scotties and never get that chance, so we’re just going to take everything in stride this week and try to embrace the moment and make the most of it and hopefully we make B.C. proud.”

A loss in the B.C. Final would have still seen Team Grandy at the Scotties as one of the three wildcard rinks.

While Grandy got a taste of the Scotties in 2021 as an alternate for the Tracy Fleury rink skipped by Chelsea Carey, which was played behind closed doors in Calgary, the 2023 edition will be her first true experience at the national championship.

“We’re quite familiar with a lot of the teams. I mean obviously with us being a new team this year, we haven’t played all of them yet, but in one shape or another we’re familiar with all the teams here,” Grandy said. “I think its an extremely strong field.”

“It’s our first time ever at the Scotties but I have to say looking at the field, I think that this is one really really strong year.”

Friday’s opening draw also features Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada rink facing off against Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges, Saskatchewan’s Robyn Silvernagle taking on Nova Scotia’s Christina Black and the wildcard rink of Kaitlyn Lawes against Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik.

Einarson and Jennifer Jones are both chasing history as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts begins Friday at the Sandman Centre.

The Einarson rink which includes Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, and Briane Harris, are on a quest to become just the second team to win four straight Scotties titles.

Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones, Kim Kelly, Nancy Delahunt, and Mary-Anne Arsenault are the only other team to do so, when they did it between 2001 and 2004.

Meanwhile, Team Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones is looking to become the first woman to win seven national titles. She opens against Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville on Saturday.

The City of Kamloops will also use the Kamloops Curling Club as The Patch – a beer garden and entertainment venue – for the duration of the Scotties. You can find a list of entertainment here.

There will be a shuttle running between the curling club and Sandman Centre making it easier for people to get between the two venues. Find that schedule here.

“We’re really excited and very prepared,” Scotties Vice-Chair Linda Bolton told NL News last month.

– With files from The Canadian Press and Jon Keen