“Our staff is really excited about this team,” said Head Coach Carla MacLeod. “It has been a process to get to this point and all the girls involved have been a pleasure to work with. The 20 girls selected are all individually skilled and driven and we are looking forward to the next step of becoming an Alberta Built team. To play at the Canada Winter Games in Alberta is an honour that we cannot wait to experience.”
Team staff includes: Carla MacLeod (head coach), Cassea Schols and Craig Perrett (assistant coaches), Amanda Tapp (goalie coach), Ally Bendfeld (video coach), Doug MacLeod (head scout), Farah Mukadam (athletic therapist), Amanda Bergen Henengouwen (equipment manager), Heather Osgood (strength and conditioning), Kendall Newell (Director of Hockey Operations), and Barry Medori (Coach Mentor).
The 2019 U18 Female roster features six returning players from the 2017 U18 Nationals team: Kassy Betinol, Teghan Inglis, Stephanie Markowski, Jordan Mortlock, Danielle Serdachny, and Rachel Weiss. This will be the third time representing Alberta for Markowski and Weiss, who also played in the 2016 U18 Nationals.
Alberta’s Minor Hockey Associations are well-represented amongst the team, with 13 different associations represented on the roster: Beaverlodge, Calgary, Cochrane, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Irma, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Okotoks, St. Albert, Wainwright and Whitecourt.
Team Alberta is coming off a bronze medal finish in women’s hockey at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., a feat also accomplished by the 1999 team in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Team Alberta is a two-time gold medalist at the Canada Winter Games, most recently in 2011 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the inaugural gold medal in 1991 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the first year women’s hockey was incorporated into the Games.
The Team Alberta selection process began at the Team Alberta U18 Spring Camp in May, followed by Summer Camp in July and Fall Camp in September. The Canada Winter Games run February 15 – March 3 in Red Deer, with the Female Hockey competition set for February 24 – March 2.
-Submitted by Hockey Alberta
