OTTAWA, ON - March 14, 2014 /CNW/ - Canadian women hockey stars and gold medal winning Olympic athletes Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Tessa Bonhomme are teaming up to coach young female athletes at the tenth annual Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest Ottawa. The two hockey greats will coach over 300 minor hockey players during the event, which takes place on Sunday, March 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre.

According to a recent Scotiabank Community Hockey Poll, nearly seven-in-ten (68%) hockey parents say that girls have the same opportunities as boys to play organized hockey in their community. When asked what inspires their daughters to play, parents says their top reasons are her friends play (62%), they are fans of a professional hockey player (43%) and the success of the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team (43%).

"We are thrilled to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest," said Steffanie Eckford, Manager of the Scotiabank Kanata branch. "We have seen over the years how much these talented young athletes get out of the program. The girls learn more from Cassie and Tessa than important technical skills, they learn about how much it means to work as a team to pursue your goals, both on and off the ice."

Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest Ottawa is free to all participants and offers girls from Novice, Atom and Peewee levels the opportunity to improve their on and off-ice hockey skills with coaching from some of the best female hockey players in the world. The day also has a community involvement session and a keynote address from the Olympians on the importance of being part of a team and hard work, dedication and determination that helped them reach their goals both on and off the ice.

"I have always enjoyed being part of Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest events and am thrilled that the event has been around for over 10 years to help encourage so many young girls to keep playing hockey," said Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Scotiabank Hockey Ambassador. "When I was growing up, these types of opportunities didn't exist for female athletes, so this event is really a great opportunity for these girls to learn skills that I hope they remember throughout their lives."

Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest began in Ottawa and has expanded to across Canada to include Winnipeg, Brandon, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. To learn more about the program, please visit www.scotiabankgirlshockeyfest.com. 

About the Coaches:

Cassie Campbell-Pascall was the captain of the Canadian women's hockey team during the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics and is the only captain, male or female, to lead Canada to two gold medals. The first woman to do colour commentary on Hockey Night in Canada, Campbell-Pascall currently works as a TV analyst for TSN's women's hockey coverage and for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and acts as special advisor on Scotiabank hockey programs.

In addition to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Tessa Bonhomme, selected as the 2010 top draft pick for the CWHL, helped bring home the Gold medal at the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup, the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship and the 2005 Air Canada Cup as well as the Silver medal at the 2011 & 2009 IIHF Women's World Championship and the 2006 Air Canada Cup. Ms. Bonhomme is originally from Sudbury, Ontario, and played for the Sudbury Lady Wolves from 1998-2003 before attending Ohio State where she was co-captain of the Buckeyes in the NCAA. 

About the polling data
The 2013 Scotiabank Community Hockey Poll was conducted online using Harris/Decima's online panel. A total of 1,000 completed surveys were collected from a sample of panel members across Canada who have children under the age of 17 who play organized community hockey. The surveys were conducted from October 1 to October 11, 2013.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is the Official Bank of the NHL®, NHL Alumni™, CWHL, Vancouver Canucks®, Winnipeg Jets®, Toronto Maple Leafs®, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers® and the Calgary Flames® whose home arena is the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Bank also has a partnership with the Montreal Canadiens®. Scotiabank has a long tradition of supporting hockey in Canada from local teams and minor hockey associations to professional players and leagues. Across Canadian communities coast to coast, Scotiabank's Community Hockey Sponsorship Program reaches out to over 5,000 minor hockey teams. To find out more about Scotiabank's hockey programs, please visit www.facebook.com/scotiahockeyclub.

Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through Bright Future, our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level across six pillars: health, education, social services, arts and culture, environment and sports. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has contributed on average some $50 million annually over the last five years to community causes around the world. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

For more information: 

Diana Hart
Scotiabank Media Communications
Office: 416 866 7238
Cell: 647 821 3849
diana.hart@scotiabank.com