CALGARY, Alta. – Seventy of the top women’s players in the country have been invited to attend Canada’s National Women’s Development Team and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camps from Aug. 5-13 in Calgary.

The camps – part of the National Teams’ Summer Showcase – will be on the ice at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park, and will see 25 development team invitees and 42 under-18 invitees vie for opportunities to represent their country in international competition this season.

Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general manager of national women’s team programs, led the player selection with assistance from Hockey Canada regional scouts – Dwayne Gylywoychuk (Manitoba), Brian Hart (Ontario), Greg Hermiston (B.C.), Chris Higgins (Ontario), Scott Lambton (Quebec), Rod Larsen (Saskatchewan), Doug Macleod (Alberta), Troy Ryan (Atlantic), and Gary Soper (Ontario).

“This is an important opportunity for us to not only evaluate some of Canada’s top female talent within our under-18 and development pool, but also to continue to work with these athletes on their individual growth on and off the ice,” said Davidson. “This year we have the unique opportunity to have U SPORTS as well as national team talent from Japan and Russia to provide an additional competitive element to our summer camps. We’re looking forward to kicking off the 2017-18 season with these players.”

U SPORTS, Japan part of prep for Canada’s National Women’s Development Team

From Aug. 6-13, 25 players – five goaltenders, six defencemen, and 14 forwards – will participate in several practices and intrasquad games, as well as off-ice dryland training, fitness testing, and classroom sessions.

Canada’s National Women’s Development Team selection camp will also feature Japan’s national women’s program and a select team of U SPORTS players. A full camp schedule can be found at HockeyCanada.ca/Showcase.

“The involvement of U SPORTS gives our group an opportunity to continue to evaluate players within Canada’s university hockey programs for possible inclusion in future national team programs,” said Gina Kingsbury, director of national women’s team programs for Hockey Canada. “We value the partnership we’ve built with U SPORTS, and appreciate the opportunity that Japan’s national hockey federation has provided in sending their team over to practice and compete alongside ours for this camp.”

Following camp, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their club teams during the 2017-18 season, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2018 Nations Cup in Füssen, Germany, in January.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team to move on to Canada-U.S. series in Lake Placid

From Aug. 5-13, 42 players – six goaltenders, 14 defenceman and 22 forwards – will be split into two teams, Red and Black, which will participate in several practices, two intrasquad games, as well as off-ice dryland training, fitness testing and classroom sessions. The two teams will also have the opportunity to test their mettle in games against the national under-18 team from Russia, which has travelled to Calgary to take part in the Summer Showcase. A full camp schedule can be found at HockeyCanada.ca/Showcase.

Of the 42 players participating in the selection camp, 23 will be selected to play for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team in a three-game series against the United States, Aug. 17-20 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Following the series, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their provincial and club teams during the 2017-18 season, including at the 2017 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Quebec City, Nov. 1-5, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2018 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Program, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Women.