County players to join rosters for 18th annual Atlantic Challenge Cup

Shaelyn McIntyre and Megan Stewart are among players on Nova Scotia’s U-15 female hockey team that will be playing this weekend at the 2012 Atlantic Challenge Cup hockey tournament in Moncton. (Submitted photo)

SUNRIDGE – Three Pictou County girls have been named to Nova Scotia’s Under-15 hockey team that will compete at the 17th annual Atlantic Challenge Cup in Moncton over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The three were members of the Troy Reid coached Pictou County Subway Selects Bantam girls team that won the 2011-12 provincial championship.
Megan Stewart, a Grade 9 student at Trenton Middle School, cracks the provincial roster for the first time. The speedy forward has been a member of four consecutive provincial championship teams dating back to her Atom years.
Emilly MacDonald of Stellarton, a Grade 9 student at Northumberland Regional High School, has also secured a spot on the provincial team for the first time. The solid two-way centre brings a tenacious work ethic to the squad. MacDonald is also a member of the Nova Scotia Peewee girls fastball team, recent winners of the Eastern Canadian Championship.
Shaelyn McIntyre of Sunridge, currently a Grade 9 student at Brewster Academy Prep school in Wolfeboro, NH, has been selected to the provincial team for the third consecutive season. The playmaking power forward has won a bronze and silver medal in previous years and looks to complete the set with a gold medal this year.
The Atlantic Challenge Cup has been in existence since 1996. It is a “Best-On-Best” event for Atlantic Canada’s top Under 15 and Under 17 female players, as well as male U-14 and U-15 players.
Provincial teams from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador will join Nova Scotia in a round robin event played each year on the Thanksgiving weekend.
The ACC is the culmination of the high performance program offered in each province. The process starts in April with identification camps and continues for those picked through summer selection camps.