SALMON ARM, BRITISH COLUMBIA - The 2005 National Women’s Under-18 Championship gets under way on Wednesday in Salmon Arm with all eight teams seeing action. The event runs until Sunday, November 13, 2005.

Team Quebec and Team Ontario Blue kick off the Championship with an 11:00 am (PT) game at the Spectator Arena in Salmon Arm while Team Alberta takes on Team Saskatchewan at 2:00 pm (PT) at the Hucul Arena.  Team Ontario Red begins its defence of the National Under-18 Title against Team Manitoba at 4:30pm (PT).   The opening ceremonies begin at 7:30pm (PT) at the Sunwave Centre and the feature game pits host Team BC against its east coast rivals, Team Atlantic. 

After a very successful National Under-18 Challenge (in January 2005), the city of Salmon Arm was chosen once again as host of the now re-named National Women’s Under-18 Championship.  All games will be played at the Sunwave Centre and tickets can be purchased by calling the ticket hotline at (250) 832-4044.

The National Under-18 Women's Hockey Championship is an event that brings together the top women’s players under 18 years old from across Canada. Teams participating include a combination of regional and provincial all-star teams: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, two teams from Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland). 

Alumnus of Canada’s National Under-18 Women’s Program include current National Women Team members, Kelly Béchard (1993, Team Saskatchewan), Becky Kellar (1993, Team Ontario), Cheryl Pounder (1993, Team Ontario), Hayley Wickenheiser (1993, Team Alberta), Caroline Ouellette (1997, Team Quebec), Cherie Piper (1997, Team Ontario) and Sarah Vaillancourt (2001, Team Quebec). 

The National Under-18 Women's Hockey Championship is part of Hockey Canada’s Women’s High Performance Program, complementing provincial women’s hockey efforts and preparing players for future international and high level training and competitions.