MONCTON - This time next week will see 1,800 plus students descend upon the Moncton Coliseum to watch the best women's hockey Canada has to offer. This field trip to the Coliseum is but one activity planned for Moncton area students participating in the Esso Schools Program. Imperial Oil, in conjunction with Canadian Hockey, is providing the field trip to the 1996 Esso Women's National Hockey Championship March 21 - 24, at the Moncton Coliseum.

The Esso Schools Program activities include a good luck letter writing campaign, speech and essay writing, preparing scouting reports and a poster/banner contest, in which the winning class will receive 100 tickets to the Championship Game on Sunday, .

The Esso Schools Program was implemented to encourage support and participation within the host community. The interest shown by the Moncton area schools has been phenomenal, and should be a good indication of the fan support for the tournament.

The 1996 Esso Women's Nationals is guaranteed to offer four days of intense and entertaining hockey with nine provinces competing for National supremacy.