Some local flare is among the 142 women invited to the Team Canada women’s program selection camp.
Lake Country’s Jade Iginla and Brooke Disher, who just led Team Canada to a gold medal at the U18 Women’s World Championships in Wisconsin last month, have been invited to the camp.
Iginla, who almost missed the tournament due to an injury, collected an assist in the gold medal victory and finished the U18 world championships with a goal and two assists. Disher captained the team to the gold medal, despite finishing the tournament scoreless.
Also included on the showcase roster is Kelowna’s Sarah Paul and Vernon’s Anne Cherkowski.
Paul currently plays for Princeton University and used to play for the U18 Rink Hockey Academy in Kelowna, where Iginla and Disher also skated. Cherkowski has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 48 games over the last two seasons between the University of Minnesota and Clarkson University.
Summerland’s Steve O’Rourke is serving as one of several coaches at the camp. He is currently the Prince George Cougars (WHL) Director of Player Development.
Over the course of the showcase running from August 3-14, the 142 athletes will be challenging for spots on the national team, national development team, and U18 national team for the 2022-23 season and the start of a new Olympic cycle.
The showcase is taking place at at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta.
The 11-day event will feature on-ice practices, including intersquad games as well as off-ice sessions. Finland’s U18 team will be joining camp for a few days to play games against Canada’s U18 women.
After this selection camp, Canada will take part in the cross-border series with the United States for the first time since 2019.
A team will be selected for the Women’s World Championship taking place in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark from Aug. 24-Sept 4.
READ MORE: Lake Country’s Iginla, Disher lead Team Canada to gold
READ MORE: Kelowna’s Jerome Blake sprints to gold at Worlds
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