CALGARY, Alta. – Sixteen of Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Program candidates will travel to Bratislava, Slovakia next week to participate in the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women’s Camp, which will bring together coaches and players from 17 different countries to help grow the female game worldwide.

The camp, taking place from July 4-12, is just one of several global development initiatives taking place over the next five years as part of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s commitment to narrowing the female hockey gap between North America and the rest of the world.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Canadian coaches, players and support staff to share their hockey experiences with other hockey federations and to learn as well,” said Kalli Quinn, Hockey Canada’s director of female national teams. “Hockey Canada is proud to participate in a leadership role in international development activities such as this and look forward to seeing a stronger, faster-paced women’s game around the world, in the near future.”

The players participating in the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women’s Camp include eight candidates from Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Program and eight players from Canada’s Senior Women’s Team Programs.

Hockey Canada is also sending six coach mentors (Melody Davidson, Doug Lidster, Rick Polutnik, Daniele Sauvageau, Fance St-Louis and Nancy Wilson) and four athlete ambassadors (Correne Bredin, Thérèse Brisson, Gina Kingsbury and Fiona Smith-Bell) as part of the IIHF Ambassador and Mentor Program (AMP), which is creating partnerships between top-ranked countries and up-and-coming countries in women’s hockey for one of the most comprehensive development programs the sport has ever seen.

Canada’s National Women’s Program coaches Lisa Jordan and Rebecca Russell will also assist at the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women’s Camp, which will include games, practices, dryland training, fitness testing and various hot stove sessions and information seminars. The participating athletes will be split up into 12 different teams, six for the under-18 camp and six for the senior camp, so that players from different countries will play with and against each other.