The Zone 4 Curling Step 1 Playdowns are today at the Portage Curling Club.

Zone 4 Curling Convener and PCI Curling Coach Lisa Shackleton's says Zone 4 is quite large, so it's broken down into East and West divisions. Shackleton says PCI is in the West division and explains the importance of today's draw.

Zone 4 Curling Convener and PCI Curling Coach Lisa Shackleton

"We have 26 teams playing off for 2 spots, 1 boy's team and 1 girl's team qualify. So we're going to have 4 qualifiers for the boy's team and 4 from the girl's teams. Then we'll merge those 4 and 4 and make the 16 teams play off in January, and we call that the Step 2 Bonspiel."

Grade 11 PCI Skip Charles Schellenberg says they've been getting better through the season and is looking forward to today's event.

"We've been doing good so far. It's been a good year for learning for our team, because we weren't able to throw at the beginning of the season. But as it's (the season) progressed, we've just got better and better."

Portage has 6 teams competing in the event, along with 7 other teams from Miami, Carman, and Morden. Schellenberg says he's no stranger to the competition he'll be facing today.

Grade 11 PCI Skip Charles Schellenberg

"It's going to be intense because I know some of the teams that are coming, and they did really well last year. So we have to play our best game all day."

The first draw of the Zone 4 Curling Step 1 Playdowns are this morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Portage Curling Club. Head to Portage Online dot com for