A weekend of skill development, fun and a chance to watch some elite hockey, that is what is in store for four local area hockey players and 156 others from across the province.
A hockey camp in September may be nothing new, but this one is directed at girls 13 and under. The goal of the U13 Female Festival in Regina is to develop young female hockey players with new coaches and provide a quality environment to become better hockey players. The weekend operates similar to the zone camps, which most of the players will strive for as their minor hockey careers continue.
The local area girls include Kailee McGarry, a 12-year-old forward from Neilburg, Kylie Goodfellow, a 12-year-old defenceman from Neilburg, Matheson Colliar, a 12-year-old goalie from North Battleford, who plays in the Sharks minor hockey system, and Kelsea Sperling a 12-year-old forward from Cut Knife.
Each player will have two skill sessions and two scrimmages and will also have a chance to watch the newly named Mandi Schwartz Challenge, which features under 18 teams from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta as well as the University of Saskatchewan, University of Regina and University of Alberta.
The top 30 players from the summer camp were selected for Team Saskatchewan and this weekend will be used as an evaluation camp for the Canada Winter Games going up in Halifax.
The Saskatchewan Hockey Association and University of Regina Cougars named the tournament after former Team Saskatchewan player Mandi Schwartz. Schwartz, the Wilcox product, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December of 2008 well playing hockey at the University of Yale. She entered remission in May of 2009 and eventually went back to Yale to continue her education and hockey in January of 2010.
Schwartz was re-diagnosed in April this year and was in remission for nearly three months, but a in August, just over two weeks before she was scheduled for a transplant using stem cells from umbilical cord blood, the cancer resurfaced for a third time. At the beginning of September, she was back in remission, but had to deal with an infection in her lungs before she could proceed with the operation. Earlier this week, reports from national media outlets said she is back in remission and was scheduled for the transplant two days ago.
Here's hoping a weekend of hockey in her honour gives her the extra boost to finally beat cancer and start the year long process to immune system recovery.
