Two Salmon Arm hockey players were among the elite athletes who were chosen to participate in BC Hockey’s Stage 3, Female U18 Provincial Camp held May 17-21 in Salmon Arm.
Both forward Sarah Botter and defenceman Alexa Ranahan were selected for the BC Hockey High Performance Provincial Camp.
Both Salmon Arm girls played extremely well during the five-day camp run by Team BC staff, provincial instructors and experts in the areas of strength and conditioning, nutrition and other sport science principals. Throughout the camp, players are evaluated on their play, fitness/strength, attitude, and perceived contribution to a winning team.
Botter played on Team White while Ranahan played for Team Blue.
Selected players will be notified and those chosen will advance to the Team BC Summer Strength and Conditioning Camp.
At the Stage 4 Team BC Summer Camp from July 25 to 29, also held in Salmon Arm, the shortlisted players will begin to work on team concepts, training, and prepare for the national competition.
Stage 5 is a Team BC Preparation Tournament in September. Team BC will come together for a preparation tournament prior to competing in the games. This will give the team an opportunity to play games together before competing at the national championship. Players will be evaluated within the tournament environment and the final roster of 20 announced.
The process continues with Stage 6, the National Championship Preparation Camp in November.
The national championship is held in various regions and time zones across the country and Team BC athletes often compete on club teams all over Canada. Therefore it is necessary for Team BC to have a pre-stage camp prior to competing in the national championship. The pre-stage camp is designed to ensure players are adequately rested, have a chance for time zone acclimatization (if necessary), team building, and team practices/systems work.
The final Stage 7 is the national championship in November. Players selected to Team BC will represent the province at the 2012 Female National U18 Championship in Dawson Creek.