Port Coquitlam's Reaghan Chadwick and Natasha Panahi of Coquitlam are part of the 20-player Team BC, whose preparation hockey tournament began Thursday and runs through Sunday in Kamloops.
The squad is gearing up to compete in the 2011 Canadian national women's Under-18 championship Nov. 2-6 in Saguenay, Que.
"Team BC is coming off a sixth-place finish at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax despite having the youngest team at the event," said Team BC director of operations Greg Hemiston. "With 13 returning players, we will be looking to draw on that experience for an improved result in Saguenay."
Chadwick,16, and Panahi, 17, are both forwards who play in the Female Midget AAA league -- Chadwick with the Fraser Valley Phantom and Panahi with the Vancouver Fusion.
During the tournament, Team BC will toil against Bantam AAA boys teams from the Interior, along with the UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey squad. "The goal of the [four] games is to set the stage for Quebec," said Team BC head coach Jeff Oldenborger. "The reality is that we do not get many games together... so we need to play these games."
