Nipigon, Ont. to host Scotties Tournament of Hearts regional qualifier

An important event on the road to the 2017 Canadian women's curling championships is set to play out in a northwestern Ontario community this month.

Nipigon, Ont. will host the Northern Ontario Curling Association Provincial Women's Curling Championship at the Nipigon Curling Club and Event Centre. The winner of the tournament will go on to represent northern Ontario at this year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Event co-chair Paul Ertel said the Nipigon rink is known for having both good curlers and successful events.

"We've done quite well with curling," he told CBC News. "So I think we made a bit of name for ourselves when we actually took one of the major curling events into the arena for the first time in Ontario.

The event, which is scheduled from January 18 to 22, is set to feature teams skipped by Hailey Beaudry and Krista McCarville from the Fort William Curling Club, Larissa Mikkelsens from the Port Arthur Curling Club and Tracy Fleury from the Idylwylde club in Sudbury, Ont.

The Nipigon area itself is no stranger to champion curlers either, Ertel said.

"We will even claim Heather Houston as one of our own," he said of the former world champion. "She is actually from Red Rock."

"As well as somebody named Mr. Hackner, who is fairly famous as well," he said.