CALGARY, AB – Karen Hughes, of Scarborough, ON, will return as head coach of the National Women's Under 22 Team for the 2001-2002 season, the Canadian Hockey Association announced Friday.

The Canadian Hockey Association launched the National NIKE Under 22 Program during the 1998-1999 season. The program gives younger players an opportunity to experience international competition, on the international ice surface and to experience everything that international hockey encompasses such as international travel, different playing styles and international officiating.

Hughes coached the National Under 22 Team last year, winning two out of three games against the USA in August, 2000 and went on to capture the Three Nations Tournament in Switzerland in November, 2000. Hughes was an assistant coach with Canada's National Women's Team, winning two World Championships. Hughes also led the University of Toronto Varsity Blues to the CIAU National Women's Hockey Championship in 2000-2001.

Hughes will be joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Ken Dufton, head coach of the NWHL's Beatrice Aeros, and Julie Healy, head coach of the NWHL's Montreal Wingstar.

"The CHA's NIKE Under 22 Program is an essential development program that enhances the National Women's Team Program ," said Gaëtan Robitaille, General Manager, Women's High Performance Program with the CHA. "Graduates of the Under 22 Program played a prominent role in winning gold at the 2001 World Championship and will contend for spots on Canada's National Women's Team for years to come."

The coaching staff's first responsibility will be to run a NIKE Under 22 Team Development Camp from August 21-31, 2001 at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, AB. The National Women's Under 22 Team will face Sweden during a 3-game series in Langley and North Delta, BC in October, 2001

The CHA also announced that twenty-eight of the best Under 22 women hockey players in Canada have been invited to the National Women's NIKE Under 22 team's development camp.

The roster includes 13 returning players from the 2000-2001 National Under 22 Team: defencemen Cathy Chartrand, Gillian Ferrari, Carla MacLeod, Kim Malcher, Dana Pretty, Cassandra Turner and forwards Danielle Bourgeois, Brooke Bradburn, Annie Desrosiers, Carly Haggard, Cheryl Muranko, Lara Perks and Lori Shupak

Newcomers to the Under 22 Program in 2001-2002 include Christine Dufour, a goaltender who starred at the first ever National Women's Under 18 Challenge in February, 2001 in Trois-Rivières, QC and forward Meghan Hunter, who finished as the national scoring leader in Women's College Hockey in the U.S. in 2000-2001.