Five Williams Lake hockey players are set to begin play this Thursday at the 2013 Female U16 BC Cup of Hockey.
Sarah Hermsen, Laine Grace, Ruthie Jackson, Victoria Byer and Stefanie Martin were selected from 53 players for the team, following a gruelling high performance identification camp hosted in Williams Lake in January.
The tournament features teams including two from the Lower Mainland, Team North, Team Okanagan, Team Vancouver Island and Team Kootenay.
Lakecity players will suit up for Team North, and are slated to arrive in Duncan — the site of the tournament — on Thursday where they’ll begin with a team meeting, perform fitness testing, then have time for an on-ice practice session.
Williams Lake’s round robin pool consists of three teams including Team Vancouver Island and Team Kootenay with Team North playing its opener against Team Kooteny Friday at 10:15 a.m.
Friday at 8 p.m. there will be an opening ceremony for players, coaches and spectators.
Saturday playoff matchups begin based on seeding from the round robin.
The tournament finals are slated for Sunday, April 7 at noon, while the bronze-medal game goes at 9:45 a.m.
Team North is being coached by Carl Johnson, with Williams Lake’s Roy Call heading up the assistant coaching duties.
The U16 level of the Female High Performance Program has been established to introduce athletes to high performance hockey focusing on both on- and off-ice aspects of the game.
In an effort to emulate national and international women’s hockey competitions, eligible players are invited to their zone’s U16 camp.
At the zone camps all player are given the opportunity to represent their zones at the U16 high performance provincial competition.
Every other year BC Hockey partners with the BC Games Society to make it possible for players from the U16 zone development camps to compete in the BC Winter Games, too.
The BC Hockey Female U16 High Performance Program alternates years between the BC Cup and the BC Winter Games, giving a chance for athletes to compete at both events.
For game summaries as they become available visit the BC Hockey website at http://www.bchockey.net/.