Warriors awarded 2025 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship

The best women's hockey at the university level in Canada will be coming to Elmira in March of 2025 as announced by U SPORTS today. The Waterloo Warriors in partnership with Woolwich Township will be hosts of the 2025 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship. This marks the first championship hosted by the University of Waterloo Department of Athletics and Recreation since the 2008 U SPORTS (then CIS) Curling Championship, and the 11^th in the history of the department.

The Warriors will be working closely with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies as they are set to host the 2024 championship. For both 2024 and 2025, the theme for the championships will be "See Them, Be Them" with the goal of showcasing our female role models in the community with a focus on the empowerment of girls and women in sport.

Fans will notice that there is a bridge in both event logos to not only signify the connections with our local regions and communities, but also the connection across the country as we work together to secure championship sponsors to build community engagement and excitement.

"We are incredibly excited and proud to have been selected to host the 2025 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship," commented director of athletics and recreation, Roly Webster.

"This speaks volumes about our department and the women's hockey program that has developed into one of the top programs in the country under the leadership of Shaun Reagan & Dollee Meigs. I know our staff will put on a tremendous event for all the student-athletes and fans and we look forward to showing off the Waterloo Region, Woolwich Township along with the University of Waterloo Warriors' brand."

The championship will feature eight teams (with an automatic berth for the Warriors) from across Canada competing for national supremacy and will be played at the state-of-the-art Woolwich Memorial Centre (Dan Snyder Arena) located in Elmira, Ont.

"The Township of Woolwich is thrilled to be working with the University of Waterloo to host such a prestigious event," said recreation manager at the Town of Woolwich, Jennifer Horndl. "We look forward to welcoming student-athletes, staff, officials and fans to our Township and the Region of Waterloo."

Over the past ten years, UWaterloo has put more resources and focus into making the Department of Athletics and Recreation stronger and the results have shown, specifically for the women's hockey program who have dominated the OUA this season. The black and gold currently sit atop the OUA west standings with a 13-3-0 record (35 points) and are ranked eighth in the country.

The women's hockey program, now in its 20^th season, has shown its commitment to excellence through the hiring of Associate Coach Dollee Meigs who joined the program in 2019-20. Meigs is currently part of the NHL Female Coaches Development Program, 1 of 50 coaches across North America to be a part of the program.

In addition, Assistant Coach, Amanda Smith is a recipient of the U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program where she will receive, funding, mentorship, and professional development to advance her coaching skills with the Warriors and beyond.

Finally, current member of the Warriors roster Emma Cheeseman (Waterloo, ON/) was recently just selected to be a part of the competitive Hockey Canada Creating Coaches Program where she will receive funding, training, skills, and mentorship to success as a future coach of the game.

"This is a monumental announcement for our program and department," said women's hockey head coach, Shaun Reagan. "Our program has come a long way the past 10 years and to be able to tell our players and especially recruits that we will be hosting the national championship is remarkable news. I am very thankful for our staff who put a ton of work into securing this championship for our team. I know they will do a remarkable job of putting on a great event."

"I am excited for our girls. It is a proud day to be a Warrior," said associate coach, Dollee Meigs. "This will elevate our program even more and will be an outstanding way to showcase the talent of university women's hockey, not only in Ontario but in Canada."

The Warriors' staff are very excited to begin the initial stages of the planning in developing a memorable U SPORTS Championship for all. You can get involved and stay up to date with information on ticketing or volunteer opportunities by signing up for the 2025 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Newsletter.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Emma Cheeseman: Defence; 5' 8"; Graduate Student; 5

Players Mentioned

#3 Emma Cheeseman
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student; 5
: Defence

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#3 Emma Cheeseman

Players Mentioned

#3 Emma Cheeseman