Twenty-four of the top men's and women's junior curling teams are in Melfort beginning Wednesday, as the provincial junior championships get underway.

On one of those teams is Pleasantdale's Rikki Schick, who plays third for Chaelynn Kitz out of Saskatoon Sutherland.

"I started curling about Grade 5 and then I started curling competitively in Grade 9," said Schick of her involvement in the game. "I fell in love with the sport almost the minute I touched the ice. I had to go to Martensville in order to start curling competitively, so I guess that's when I decided it was time to take the next step."

The Kitz rink went 2-3 in the round robin, missing the playoffs at last year's playdowns in Saskatoon. In the 2015 championships in Humboldt, Schick played third for Jessica Mitchell's rink, who lost in the final game.

Schick says that competing in the playdowns gives them a chance to head to Nationals.

"Winning in Melfort would mean representing Saskatchewan at the Canadian Nationals, which are held in Victoria, BC from January 21st to the 29th," she noted.

The first game for Schick and Team Kitz will be at 3:30pm as they meet Kaitlyn Jones.

In the men's tournament, there is more local representation.

Humboldt's Braden Fleischhacker plays lead for the Mitchell Dales rink out of Saskatoon Nutana. Also on the team is Dustin Mikush of Wadena.

Representing the Wadena Curling Club is Jayden Bindig's foursome, which consists of third Nathen Pomedli, second Josh Mayor and lead Ethan Nygaard.

You can hear more from Schick below.