The crème of the crop when it comes to female midget hockey players across the country now have the opportunity to compete for a National Championship for the first time in history.
“It’s something we have been working towards for many years” said Dave Peterson, Female Council Chair for Hockey Alberta. “It really highlights the development of female hockey programs in Alberta and across the rest of the country.”
The inaugural ESSO Cup will be held in Calgary at the Max Bell Arena from April 19 – April 25.
The tournament will feature a host team and four regional champions including the Pacific, West, Central and Atlantic. Quebec will sit this year’s tournament out because of a scheduling conflict with their provincials in April.
“We will only have five teams in the tournament this year,” said Byron Stephen, co-chair of the ESSO Cup host committee. “Quebec will re-enter for the 2010 championship eventually making it a six team tournament.”
“It’s definitely a learning experience putting this tournament together for the first time, but so far everything is going according plan and we will be ready to go.”
Five days of Round Robin action will set the stage for the Semi finals on April 24 and the gold-medal game on April 25.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase Canada’s female talent right in our own backyard,” said Terry Ledingham, President of Hockey Alberta. “The inaugural National Women’s Championship will without a doubt be a huge success and we look forward to working with both Hockey Canada and Girls Hockey Calgary leading up to the event.”
The Number of Female aged midget hockey players (aged 16 and 17) has increased by 300 per cent in the last decade from 3,170 in 1997-98 to 12,512 in 2007-08.
Previously, the pinnacle of female midget hockey was the Western Shield, which was a competition between club teams from Canada’s four western provinces and the Northwest Territories. |