It’s been a long time coming for one of Okotoks’ most prolific hockey talents.
Multi-sport athlete Breanne Trotter is set to make her debut with the Team Alberta hockey program as one of 20 players named to the final roster for the province’s entry at the National Women’s U18 Championships next month in Quebec.
“Coach called me and said ‘how’s my day going? And didn’t really cut to the chase. I was nervous waiting all day,” said Trotter, the captain of the Rocky Mountain Raiders. “I’m really excited to play with all these really talented girls.”
The third and final round of selections were made during the first weekend of October after the U18 prospects skated against the University of Alberta women’s team as well as the Sherwood Park Bantam AAA Flyers boys.
“They were both really fast and that’s what we’re going to be seeing at nationals,” Trotter said. “There is going to be lots of speed and I’m expecting Ontario to be really good because that’s what I’ve heard. There will be lots of skilled teams, it’s going to be fun.”
Trotter, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity Academy, will be joined by both of her Raiders linemates in snipers Nicole Fry and Chloe Puddifant as well as dynamic Rocky Mountain blueliner Isabella Pozzi.
Eight of the athletes play in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League while the rest of the roster is represented by the depth of sports schools in Western Canada.
Okotokian Kassy Betinol, a second-year student at the Penticton-based Okanagan Hockey Academy, brings her energetic forward play to the ice along with former Raider Rachel Weiss, a student at Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna, out of DeWinton. Okotoks blueliner Teghan Inglis, out of Pursuit of Excellence, rounds out the local contingent.
“We saw a very talented group of individuals during this year’s Team Alberta selection process,” said co-ordinator of Team Alberta Female, Mathieu Provencher, in a press release. “We’re confident in the 20 players we’ve selected to represent their province, and look forward to seeing what they can do on the ice in November.”
Alberta will be in a field of eight teams representing the top female talent in the country with the likes of B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario Red and White, Quebec and Atlantic standing in its way of a gold-medal finish.
The 2016 championship saw Alberta skate to a fifth-place finish.
Prior to the beginning of the tournament the U18 squad takes on a pair of Bantam AAA boys teams in the Calgary Royals and Calgary Bisons in exhibition action on Oct. 14 and 15 at the Edge School for Athletes.
The national tournament runs Nov. 1-5 in Quebec City.
For more information go to hockeyalberta.ca
