2003 Esso Women's Nationals

Alberta

The Calgary Oval X-Treme team train at the Olympic Oval as part of the Female Hockey High Performance Program. In 1995, the Oval pioneered the first training centre in the world designed specifically for high performance female hockey players. Over the next seven years, the X-Treme was AAA Provincial champions five times consecutively, won two gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal at the Esso Women’s National Hockey Championship and captured the Cameron Cup Series against the Edmonton Chimos each year since its inception in 1999.

Five Oval X-Treme players were members of Canada’s 2002 Olympic gold medal winning team women’s hockey team (Antal, Béchard, Campbell, Goyette and Sostorics). This kind of achievement in any sport depends on high performance programs such as the Oval’s to provide National Team members and other elite players with a high level of play.

In 2002, the Oval X-Treme joined the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in pursuit of maintaining the highest level of competition for the team. The Oval’s association with the NWHL has benefited the players by providing them with the necessary higher level of competition that is required to make the transition from player to athlete.

Photo: Robin Kuniski