BC Hockey announced that Victoria Byer of the Northern Capitals has been named the Female Midget AAA (FMAAA) Player of the Month for December 2015.
The five-foot-11 defenceman from Williams Lake tallied three goals and one assist for a total of four points in four games in December, and has recorded five goals and six assists for a total of 11 points so far this season.
Byer, a third-year FMAAA player, has helped the Capitals to a 14-5-2 record, good for second in the league standings.
The Capitals also won the prestigious Macs Midget AAA Tournament in Calgary at the end of the month.
Said Capitals head coach Mario Desjardins: “Victoria has had a great season leading the Capitals defensive core with 11 points to date. Victoria is an anchor on our blue line. She brings 100 per cent effort every game, competes every shift, and also brings an offensive dynamic to our team by reading the play and making smart decisions on when to jump into the rush.”
Off the ice, Byer has volunteered at BC Hockey Female High Performance camps in her hometown of Williams Lake, and has also worked to mentor younger female players within the Prince George Minor Hockey Association (MHA).
Byer was chosen from a high calibre list of other nominees, including Madeleine Ericsson (Fraser Valley Rush), Brooke Vial (Greater Vancouver Comets), Emilie TeBulte (Kootenay Wild), Julianne Nelson (Thompson-Okanagan Lakers), and Lexxi Smith (Vancouver Island Seals).
The FMAAA program consists of six zone-based teams across the province — the Fraser Valley Rush (Langley), Greater Vancouver Comets (Coquitlam), Kootenay Wild (Nelson), Northern Capitals (Prince George), Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (Vernon), and Vancouver Island Seals (Campbell River).
The teams play a 30-game regular season, followed by the playoffs.
The FMAAA Champion has the opportunity to compete for the ESSO Cup, Hockey Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, which will take place in Weyburn, Sask. from April 19-25, 2016.
The FMAAA program was initiated in the 2007-2008 season in response to the membership’s desire to provide an opportunity for elite female hockey players to come together on zone teams to challenge other elite female Midget teams.
The league has had nearly 100 players move on to post-secondary hockey opportunities.
For more information about the BC FMAAA program, please visit the website at www.bchockey.net/fmaaa or e-mail midgethockey@bchockey.net.