University of Regina women's hockey player Ireland Sorestad is one of six student-athletes selected to participate in Creating Coaches, a new initiative by U SPORTS and the Hockey Canada Foundation designed to increase the number of women in coaching positions in Canada.

With a focus on training, mentoring and empowering women behind the bench, the two-year mentorship program is about strengthening and positively impacting the women's game. The Hockey Canada Foundation and its Hockey Is Hers initiative has three strategic areas to ensure that growth – grassroots recruitment and retention, developing female coaches and supporting Canada's national women's teams.

"Being selected for the Creating Coaches program is an absolute honour and an opportunity that I am blessed to be a part of," Sorestad said. "I grew up playing a male-dominant sport where being the only female came with many challenges, and because of this I'm driven and determined to help female hockey grow in Saskatchewan and across Canada. I dream of communities and cities where little girls have role models not only on TV, but right next door."

A frequent instructor for the U of R's popular Cougar Cubs program and at camps, Sorestad's playing career has seen her appear in a total of 83 Canada West games in her three seasons with the Cougars. A product of Melfort, Sask. and the Prince Albert Northern Bears Midget AAA program, Sorestad has excelled in her Faculty of Education coursework as a two-time recipient of Academic All-Canadian honours.

Mount Royal's Tatum Amy is the only other Canada West player selected to participate in the program. The others include Carley Blomberg (Brock), Kelsey McHolm (York), Janie Poitras (Moncton), and Alexandra Boulanger (Concordia).