CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Friday the 40 players who have been invited to the selection camp for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, taking place August 7-14 at the Canadian International Hockey Academy in Rockland, Ont.

The invitation list includes four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 24 forwards, who were all on the roster for Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team strength and conditioning camp, held in Hamilton, Ont., in May. Invitations to the selection camp in August have been based on fitness testing at the strength and conditioning camp this spring and evaluations by Hockey Canada scouts during the 2010-11 season, including player performances with their club teams, at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S., in February and at the 2011 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in St. Albert, Alta., in April.

CLICK HERE FOR PLAYERS INVITED TO CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM SELECTION CAMP

Prior to the selection camp, the four under-18 goaltenders will join four under-22 netminders at a National Women’s Program goaltending camp, set for August 5-7, also at the Canadian International Hockey Academy in Rockland.

CLICK HERE FOR GOALIES INVITED TO CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S PROGRAM GOALTENDING CAMP

Hockey Canada also announced Thursday that Pierre Alain (Mirabel, Que./St-Jérôme, Collégial AA) will serve as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, while Jim Fetter (Waterloo, Ont./Hockey Canada) and National Women’s Team alumna Carla MacLeod (Calgary, Alta./Mount Royal University, ACAC) will be assistant coaches.

Hockey Canada will use the selection camp to select 22 players for a three-game series against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 Select Team, scheduled for August 18, 19 and 21, also in Rockland. Following the series, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their club teams during the 2011-12 season, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Under-18 Women’s World Championship in the Czech Republic in January.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp will see the 40 players split into two teams, Red and White, that will participate in several practices and intersquad games over the course of the week. It will be held in conjunction with Canada’s National Women’s Under-22/Development Team camp, which will split another 40 players into two teams, Blue and Yellow, for practices and intersquad games.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCHEDULE FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM SELECTION CAMP

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCHEDULE FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S PROGRAM GOALTENDING CAMP

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp invitation list features:

· Six players who won a silver medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18-Team at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in Stockholm, Sweden in January (Ambrose, Dufault, Kohler, Mercer, Roesler, Stacey)

· One player who helped Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team win its first-ever gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship in Chicago, Ill. (Ambrose)

· Four members of the Alberta team that won gold at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S. in February (Kampjes, Maschmeyer, Murray, Sowchuk)

· Two members of the Notre Dame Hounds, who won the gold medal at the 2011 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in St. Albert, Alta., in April (Howe, Woods)

· One member of the Thunder Bay Queens, who won the gold medal at the 2010 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in Regina, Sask. (Cava)

· Six players who participated in the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women’s Camp in Bratislava, Slovakia in July (Accursi, Bunton, Capizzano, Krzyzaniak, McKibbon, Nurse)

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp invitees, broken down by province:

Ontario – 22 (Accursi, Allen, Ambrose, Bunton, Capizzano, Cava, Channell, Chuli, Connery, Dubois, Forfar, Kohler, Korbs, Leveille, Lloyd, McKibbon, Mercer, Nurse, Richardson, Roesler, Stacey, West)

Alberta – four (Kampjes, Maschmeyer, Murray, Sowchuk)

British Columbia – three (Krause, Newell, McKinnon)

Manitoba – three (Brykalliuk, Dufault, Krzyzaniuk)

Québec – three (Frazer, Lemire, Ziadie)

Saskatchewan – three (Clark, Howe, Woods)

Nova Scotia – one (Crossley)

Prince Edward Island – one (MacAulay)

Hockey Canada will also be holding several female development activities, including seminars for coaches and officials, skills camps for players, as well intermission mini-games and Experience a Dream, which will give young girls the chance to join under-18 players for off-ice and on-ice warm-ups during the Canada-United States three-game series. Please contact Trina Radcliffe, Hockey Canada’s manager of female development, for more information at (403) 777-3601 or tradcliffe@hockeycanada.ca.

For more information on Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca.