CALGARY, Alta. – Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival opens this weekend at the WinSport Canada Athletic & Ice Complex in Calgary, with 40 of the top female players from across the country coming to train Sept. 22-29 at the home of Hockey Canada at Canada Olympic Park.

The camp roster includes four goaltenders, 13 defencemen and 23 forwards, who will be split up into Red and White teams for several practices and two intrasquad games. The eight-day camp will also include four exhibition games against teams from the Alberta Midget Hockey League, with Red taking on the UFA Bisons and Calgary Northstars while White faces off against the Red Deer Rebels, the defending TELUS Cup champions, and Calgary Flames. All practices and games at Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival are open to the public and free of charge.

The camp will serve as an important evaluation opportunity for Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff, led by head coach Dan Church (Toronto, Ont./York University, CIS), and Hockey Canada’s team of scouts, led by head scout of women’s national team programs Melody Davidson. Following the camp, players will be monitored at international events, such as the 2012 4 Nations Cup in Finland, as well as with their club teams during the 2012-13 season. These evaluations will assist coaches and scouts in selecting the team that will represent Canada at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Ottawa, Ont., next April, and the players that will be centralized with Canada’s National Women’s Team in Calgary for the 2013-14 season, leading up to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

“We have 40 great athletes coming to Calgary to push themselves, each other and our program to the next level,” Church said. “A special thank you to the coaches and players of the Alberta Midget Hockey League for helping us reach our potential by participating in this camp, an important step on our path toward both the women’s world championship in Ottawa next April, and the Sochi Olympics in February 2014.”

The roster for Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival includes:

• all 23 players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Burlington, Vt. (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bonhomme, Bram, Fortino, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Poulin, Rougeau, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield, Ward and Wickenheiser);
• thirteen members of Canada’s gold medal-winning team from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. (Agosta, Apps, Bonhomme, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Labonté, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Poulin, Szabados, Ward and Wickenheiser);
• three players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic (Ambrose, Lefort and Stacey);
• seven players who won a bronze medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-22/Development Team at the 2012 Meco Cup in Füssen and Sonthofen, Germany (Campbell, Edney, Lacasse, Poudrier, Rattray, Saulnier, Watchorn);
• twenty-one players from the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bonhomme, Bram, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Kessler, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Prevost Slusar, Spooner, Wakefield, Ward and Watchorn);
• sixteen players playing U.S. college hockey (Ambrose, Campbell, Davis, Edney, Fortino, Jenner, Kohanchuk, Lacquette, Lefort, Poudrier, Poulin, Rattray, Rougeau, Saulnier, Stacey and Terry);
• two players from Canadian Interuniversity Sport (Daoust and Wickenheiser);
• one player from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (Szabados).

The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, taking place April 2-9 at SBP Arena and Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa, Ont., will mark the sixth time Canada has hosted the tournament. Canada also hosted in 1990 in Ottawa, 1997 in Kitchener, Ont., 2000 in Mississauga, Ont., 2004 in Halifax, N.S., and 2007 in Winnipeg, Man. The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship host committee is still recruiting volunteers for this prestigious event, so if you’re interested in joining the team, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/2013Ottawa.

Ticket packages for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship are on sale now and include 12 games at SBP Arena, home of the Ottawa Senators, all Team Canada games and all medal round games. For more ticket information, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/2013Ottawa, and to purchase 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship ticket packages, CLICK HERE.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Francis Dupont, Hockey Canada’s manager of media relations, will be on site at Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival. He will be handling all interview requests and can be reached at 587-999-5681 or fdupont@hockeycanada.ca.

For more information on the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, please follow www.Twitter.com/HC_WWHC, become a fan at www.Facebook.com/WorldWomens and visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/2013Ottawa.

For more information on Canada’s National Women’s Program and Hockey Canada, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/NWT, or follow along through social media at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada, www.Twitter.com/HockeyCanada and www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada.