CALGARY – General manager and head coach Melody Davidson, in conjunction with head scout Wally Kozak, announced Canada’s National Women’s Summer Under-18 Team on Friday. The team is made up of the top Canadian female hockey players born in 1990 or later, and will gather for a three-game series against the USA from August 23-26 in Ottawa, ON.

The players were selected to the roster following a national conditioning camp in May and an evaluation camp in July. They were also evaluated over the course of the 2006-07 season by Davidson, along with Kozak, Hockey Canada’s Head Scout for National Women’s Teams, and a number of regional scouts, based on their performances at national camps, the Canada Winter Games and with their club teams. Both goaltenders also took part in a National Women’s Program goaltending camp in June.

Davidson also announced two assistant coaches for the 2007-08 season. Jim Fetter (Waterloo, ON/ Wayne State University, CHA) and Danielle Goyette (St-Nazaire, QC/ University of Calgary, ACAC) will both be making their international coaching debuts after assisting at the National Women’s Under-19 Program evaluation camp in July 2007 in Calgary, AB. Fetter is the head coach of the women’s team at Wayne State University, while Goyette will be the head coach of the University of Calgary this season. She has been a player with the National Women’s Team since the 1992 IIHF World Women’s Championship and ranks as the second leading scorer all-time with Team Canada.

“This is a very exciting time for the National Women’s Program, with the Under-18 team becoming a reality this year,” said head coach Melody Davidson. “This summer’s camp was a very competitive one and the players named today should be very proud of their accomplishments. I look forward to working with these players as well as our staff during this series as we begin to prepare for the first-ever IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship.

“I am really looking forward to working with Jim and Danielle as assistant coaches,” added Davidson. “While they are new to coaching at the international level, they both bring great experience to the position.”

Davidson also announced that two players that took part in the Under-19 evaluation camp have been named to the National Women’s Under-22 Team. Forwards Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, ON/ Sudbury Intermediate AA, ON) and Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, ON/ Etobicoke, NWHL) will be part of the National Women’s Under-22 Team that will face the U.S. National Women’s Under-22 Team in Lake Placid, NY from August 19-26. The remaining members of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team will be named following the August 9-18th camp to be held at York University in Toronto, ON.

Canada’s National Women’s Summer Under-18 Team includes two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. All twenty-two players participated in the 2007 Canada Winter Games, including six players from Team Ontario, which captured the gold medal. Aside from games against Team Japan during the evaluation camp, none of the players have any international experience.

The 2007-08 season marks the first for the National Women’s Under-18 Team, which will include the three-game series against the USA in Ottawa, ON from August 23-26 and the first-ever IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in January 2008 in Canada (location to be determined). The Under-18 program follows the regional Under-18 program, which has been in place since 2001. The 2007 National Women’s Under-18 Championship will take place in Kitchener, ON from November 7-11.

The National Women’s Under-18 Team is a key component of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, which, along with the Under-22 program, helps identify, evaluate and develop female hockey players for Canada’s National Women’s Team.