CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has invited 83 to Canada’s National Women’s Program strength and conditioning camp taking place May 3-7 in Hamilton, Ont., of which 80 confirmed they can participate.

For the 30 development players and 50 under-18 women attending the camp, the focus will be entirely on off-ice sessions, which include dryland training, fitness-testing, and physical and mental preparation.

Throughout the 2016-17 season, Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general manager of national women’s team programs, along with her staff of 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) - have been following the progress of the under-18 players with their club teams as well as tournaments and championships. This camp is the first of the season and is the initial programming step of the 2017-18 season.

As Canada’s National Women’s Team prepares for Olympic centralization, a smaller, targeted group of development team-aged players (born 1996-1999) have been invited to this year’s strength and conditioning camp. Following a similar scouting process for this group, this camp represents the initial step in the selection process for the 2017-18 season. The goal is to review the commitment expected on a daily basis for a high performance athlete and to start a personalized, four-year plan for each athlete.

“Our strength and conditioning camp is an opportunity for us to further assess players we’ve targeted for the national team program, and this year, is a kick-off of our planning for the next quadrennial as we look to build the athlete pipeline to 2022 and beyond,” said Davidson. “The camp also plays an important role for the players who are given a much clearer picture of the expectations of a national team athlete, and a personalized pathway to give them the best opportunity to continue to be part of the national team program.”

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