By Hockey Manitoba

Portage La Prairie, Man. - The four Western Hockey Canada Branches (Hockey Manitoba, Hockey Saskatchewan, Hockey Alberta and BC Hockey) are very pleased to announce the launch of the 2021 Western Regional Women’s U18 Championship the week of November 1^st – November 6^th, 2021, at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.  

Following the cancellation of the 2021 National Women’s U18 Championship on September 27^th due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the four Western Branches set out to create a replacement event for our female U18 athletes. The National Women’s U18 Championship is a key piece in the development process for high performance U18 female athletes and all four Branches felt that a replacement event was necessary to continue that development.

The planning and coordination of this event has been a collaboration between all four Western Branches, with welcomed support, guidance, and funding from Hockey Canada.  The goal of this event will be to provide an elite development opportunity for our female U18 athletes while also furthering the development of female hockey in Western Canada.

The 2021 Western Regional Women’s U18 Championship will be a four (4) team tournament that will consist of the following:

• Three (3) game round robin.
• Semi-finals
• Bronze Medal Game
• Gold Medal Game

Competition will commence on November 1^st with all games being played at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie, MB. Stride Place is the home of the Portage Terriers of the MJHL and previously played host to the RBC Cup in 2015. Games will be open to the public based on the most recent public health orders with admission being charged at the gate.  Schedule and event information will be made available in the coming days on each of the respective provincial member websites.

Inquiries regarding the 2021 Western Regional Women’s U18 Championship can be directed towards any of the Western Branch Member offices.

The Female Program of Excellence is designed to provide high performance female players with the opportunity to develop advanced skills as well as an introduction to the concepts needed to play at an elite level.  Players from the Program of Excellence go on to play at the USports, NCAA, and international level.