The Ford Hot Shots is the annual skills competition preceding both the Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Scotties Tournament of Hearts

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is an annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Canada at the women's world curling championships. Since 1985, the winner also gets to return to the following year's tournament as...

 and the Tim Hortons Brier

Tim Hortons Brier

The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply the Brier, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by the Canadian Curling Association . The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut shop chain.The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during...

, Canada's women's and men's national curling

Curling

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

 championships respectively.

History

When Ford became a sponsor of the World Curling Championships

World Curling Championships

The World Curling Championships are annual curling events which showcase the world's best curlers, organized by the World Curling Federation. There are men's, women's and mixed championships. The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's in 1979...

 in 1995, it also began a tradition of the skills competition preceding Canada's national championships.

Disciplines

There are five disciplines that each competitor must do:

• The "hit and stay" (they must hit a rock on the button and not roll out)
• The "draw to the button" (they must throw the rock as close as possible to the centre of the rings)
• The "draw through the port" (the must throw the rock as close as possible to the centre of the rings, but go between two guard rocks in the process.
• The "raise" (they must bump a guard rock into the rings as close as possible to the centre)
• The "hit and roll" (they must hit a rock at the edge of the rings and roll as close as possible to the centre of the rings)
• The "double" (they must remove two rocks with one stone, and end up as close as possible to the centre of the rings)

Scoring

In each shot, where the shooter rock comes to rest determines how many points are earned. A rock that ends up on the button receives 5 points. A rock that ends up in the 4 foot gets 4 points. 8 foot, 3, 12 foot 2 and one point if a "shot has been to have provided some sort of positive result"

Prizes

The winner of the Hot Shots receives a 2 year lease on a Ford vehicle. First and second runners-up receive cash ($2000 and $1000 respectively). In 2009, the women's winner received a lease on a 2009 Ford Flex

Ford Flex

The Ford Flex is a full-size crossover manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Its styling is based on the Ford Fairlane concept unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The production vehicle made its debut at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. Sales of the Flex began in...

 SEL FWD and the men's winner received a lease on a 2009 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4.

Winners

Year	Womens	Mens
2011	Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (curler) Jennifer Jones is a Canadian curler from East St. Paul, Manitoba. Jones, a lawyer, is corporate counsel for Wellington West Capital and a Windsor Park Collegiate graduate.-Early success:...	Richard Hart Richard Hart (curler) Richard Hart is a retired Canadian curler from Pickering, Ontario. With skip Glenn Howard, Hart has played in 8 straight Ontario Finals....
2010	Amber Holland Amber Holland Amber Holland is a Canadian curler. Holland skipped Saskatchewan's team to a national women's championship in 2011 by defeating defending champion Jennifer Jones in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts...	Glenn Howard Glenn Howard Glenn Howard is a Canadian curler from Penetanguishene, Ontario. He has won three Briers and three world championships in his career. He has also won six straight Ontario provincials.-1980s-2006:...
2009	Cheryl Bernard Cheryl Bernard Cheryl Bernard is a Canadian curler from Calgary. She represented Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics as the team's skip, winning the silver medal in women's curling after falling to Sweden in the final....	Craig Savill Craig Savill Craig Edward Savill is a Canadian curler from Ottawa. He currently plays lead for former World Champion Glenn Howard rink....
2008	Jill Officer Jill Officer Jill Officer is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Officer plays second for the 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion teams skipped by Jennifer Jones. She currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba with her husband Devlin Hinchey.Officer has played with Jones since...	Steve Laycock Steve Laycock Steve Laycock is a Canadian curler from Saskatoon. He currently skips his team out of the Tartan Curling Club in Regina....
2007	Kelli Turpin	John Morris John Morris (curler) John Morris is a Canadian curler, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medalist from Chestermere, Alberta. Morris plays third for the Kevin Martin team. Morris, author of the book Fit to Curl, is the son of Maureen and Earle Morris, inventor of the "Stabilizer" curling broom...
2006	Colleen Jones Colleen Jones Colleen P. Jones is a Canadian curler and television personality. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an unprecedented four titles in a row...	Steve Gould Steve Gould (curler) Steve Gould is a Canadian curler from Headingley, Manitoba. He currently plays lead for Jeff Stoughton....
2005	Jenn Hanna Jenn Hanna Jennifer Ann Hanna is a Canadian curler who curls out of the Ottawa Curling Club. She was a finalist in both the 1998 Canadian Junior Curling Championship and the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts.-Personal life:...	Mark Nichols Mark Nichols Mark Nichols, ONL is a Canadian curler from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.Nichols played third for the Brad Gushue rink from 1999 to 2011, and represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics. With Gushue, Nichols has been to three Canadian Junior Curling Championships and six Briers...
2004	Andrea Lawes	Randy Ferbey Randy Ferbey Randy Ferbey is a Canadian curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta.Ferbey is a six-time Canadian champion and a four-time World Champion....
2003	Suzanne Gaudet Suzanne Birt Suzanne Birt is a Canadian curler from Covehead, Prince Edward Island....	Mark LeCocq
2002	Kristy Lewis	Pat Ryan
2001	Kelley Law Kelley Law Kelley Law formerly known as Kelley Atkins and Kelley Owen is a Canadian curler from Coquitlam, British Columbia...	Jeff Lacey
2000	Kelley Law Kelley Law Kelley Law formerly known as Kelley Atkins and Kelley Owen is a Canadian curler from Coquitlam, British Columbia...	Don Bartlett Don Bartlett Donald "Don" Bartlett is a Canadian curler from Edmonton, Alberta.Until April 26, 2006, Barlett played lead for Kevin Martin....
1999	Marcy Balderston	Steve Gould Steve Gould (curler) Steve Gould is a Canadian curler from Headingley, Manitoba. He currently plays lead for Jeff Stoughton....
1998	Allison Franey	Greg McAulay Greg McAulay Greg McAulay is a Canadian World champion curler from Richmond, British Columbia.McAulay has been to only two Briers in his career. At the 1998 Labatt Brier, he skipped his British Columbia team to a 7-4 finish before losing to Saskatchewan in a tie-breaker.Two years later, McAulay was back at...
1997	Sherry Fraser	Mike Coulter (N. Ont)
1996	Gerri Cooke	Rick Perron
1995	Kay Montgomery	Ed Werenich Ed Werenich Edward Werenich is a Canadian curler. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter....