The under-16 Female Program of Excellence held in Williams Lake during the weekend yielded strong results for local hockey players, said co-ordinator Kelly Call.
Eighteen hockey players from 100 Mile House to Whitehorse attended the BC Hockey camp, where participants are introduced to high performance hockey focusing on both on- and off-ice aspects of the game while emulating national and international women’s hockey competitions.
From Williams Lake, Paige Outhouse, Dylan Passeri, Brette Kerley, Pyper Alexander, Sara Vermeulen and Ali Waterhouse all took part, and all had strong performances, Call said.
Once Vancouver Island hosts the fifth zone camp in the province from Jan. 27-29, players from the north zone will be selected to advance to a U16 Identification Camp in Salmon Arm from April 6-9, formerly called the BC Cup.
Call noted, however, registration for this year’s camp was down significantly from last year due to a fee increase.
“I think with what we were given we made the best of it,” Call said. “A big part of it is the volunteers. We had 15 volunteers who were there just about entire weekend — someone scorekeeping, doing registration, the coaches on the ice and the mentors.”
Call, who co-ordinated the camp along side head coach Troy Weil, also had coaches Randy Riplinger, Lindsey Woods, Tyler Perry, Roy Call and Dave Atkinson there helping run the event.
Brooke Call and Kassidy Herrick, midget-aged players who had been through the camp process before, meanwhile, acted as on-ice mentors.
The camp consisted of fitness testing, on-ice sessions, parent and player information sessions, an exhibition game and one-to-one player evaluations at its conclusion.
“Whoever advances on, that’ll be the top 80 U16 girls in the province,” Call said. “They’ll do a jamboree-style tournament in Salmon Arm, practices and playing games.”
Williams Lake, meanwhile, is without a female bantam rep hockey team this season as there weren’t enough girls to field a team, forcing players to look into other avenues to play.
Outhouse and Vermeulen are currently playing up a division with the Williams Lake Midget Female Timberwolves, while Ali Waterhouse has been playing in Penticton with the Okanagan Hockey Academy.
Kerley and Alexander have been playing bantam rep hockey in Prince George, however, practice with the Williams Lake Midget Female Timberwolves.
“It’s unfortunate,” Call said of not having a team. “But that just shows how dedicated this really nice group of girls are to female hockey.
“The camp went off well, and I’m thankful for the great volunteers.”