The Kimberley Academy ladies hockey team, the Nitro Xpress, will be kicking off the season with a tournament against Swift Current at the Kimberley Civic Centre this weekend.
The team has been running for three years through the Canadian Sports School and Director/Program Manager, Shane Murray says the girls are in for an exciting season.
“The girls are prepping for a showcase where they get recruited for full and/or partial scholarships at Division One, Three and U Sports schools throughout the US and Canada,” said Murray. “A couple of the girls are being looked at for sure.”
The team is made up of 21 players ranging from ages 14 to 18, six of whom hail from other parts of BC, Alberta, Montana, Colorado and Iceland.
“The non-locals are here for the full school year because of the academy,” said Murray. “They travel to games and play here while attending school at Selkirk. [The team] trains for at least five hours a week on ice plus dry land training.”
Most of their games this season will be held in Alberta, with three notable tournaments in Toronto, Detroit and Washington, DC.
The Nitro Xpress team is headed up by Hannah Armstrong. She is in her second year with The Kimberley Academy after spending time as a coach at Ontario Hockey Academy. Hannah served as the assistant coach for U16 Team Ontario Yellow at the Ontario Summer Games in 2016, winning gold. She played NCAA Division One hockey at the University of New Hampshire and was a seven year member of the Team Canada program, winning gold with the U18 team. Hannah has coached power skating, learn to skate, puck skills, and scoring and shooting clinics for 10 years.
Shelley Payne is the assistant coach and goaltending coach. Shelley has experience as a player in the CWHL and in Sweden and served as the head coach for Goteborg Hockey Club’s development team in 2015. She played NCAA Division Three hockey at Colby College in Maine. Shelley also earned her Masters of Sports Leadership from Northeastern University in 2016 and is the Director of Elite Concepts Goalie Training.
Murray and Brad Park serve as Directors for the academy, both of whom have extensive experience in minor, junior and senior hockey, coaching and coordinating with BC Hockey.
The tournament this weekend will be on Saturday, Oct, 7 from 3:15p.m. to 5:15p.m. as well as Sunday, Oct. 8 from 10:30a.m. to 12:45p.m. at the Civic Centre, admission is free.
For more information visit the Nitro Xpress website at gonitroxpress.ca or check out their Facebook page: The Kimberley Academy.