The Northern Capitals, with Williams Lake defenceman Victoria Byer and goaltender Tamara William, upset the first place Greater Vancouver Comets, sweeping them in two games earlier this month to claim the 2015/16 Female Midget AAA Hockey Championship.
The Capitals took game one, 4-2, thanks to a dynamic offence and stingy defence, before following it up with a 1-0 shutout win in the two-game sweep.
The win marks a Capitals’ repeat as champions after defeating Fraser Valley in three games in 2014/15. The Capitals will now take on the champion of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League (AMMFHL) from April 1-3 in the Pacific Midget Female Regionals in Prince George for the right to represent the Pacific region at the 2016 ESSO Cup.
The FMAAA program consists of six zone-based teams that are spread 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, Saskatchewan 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.