Women’s Select Prospect Camp draws largest field of participants

Participants in this weekend's Women's Hockey Prospect Camp faced off in an opening day scrimmage at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Women’s Select Prospect Camp draws largest field of participants

4/9/2026 9:56:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey, Women's D2 Hockey

Liberty’s ACHA Division I and II coaches are assessing the talent of 32 players from around the United States in town for this week’s camp as well as College For A Weekend.

Female hockey prospects from as far away as Michigan and Minnesota have flocked to Liberty University this weekend for the Women's Select Prospect Camp, coinciding with College For A Weekend (CFAW).

"It's a really big group, with a lot of young kids and a few Division II commitments who will be coming next year," Lady Flames Division I Head Coach Chris Lowes said of players already signed by DII Head Coach Rena Leone. "The numbers are up, which is a good thing for our program, for sure. We'll be doing a little recruiting for next year, but most of it will be long-term, for down the road."

In recent years, the Prospect Camp, as well as Liberty Hockey Summer Camps, have produced a good number of players who have competed at both the DI and DII levels at Liberty.

"We've had plenty of girls end up at Liberty who have come through the Prospect Camp," Lowes said, noting the sisters of current forwards Ellie Sarauer and Chloe Moses are in this week's camp, as well as the sister of former DII forward Dominique Duenas, from Mexico City, who graduated last year.

The 32 high school-aged players, born between 2008-11, had the opportunity to attend a class in their interested field of study, eat lunch and dinner at the Reber-Thomas Dining Center, and participate in a skills assessment and scrimmage as well as dryland performance testing in the LaHaye Ice Center on Thursday's opening day.

"We had a good first skate today," Lowes said. "It was a chance for girls to shake the rust off, before it will amp up (on Friday) and Saturday will be the end of it."

He said the main emphasis is to immerse the prospective players in the academic, athletic, spiritual, and social aspects of life at Liberty to see all that the school has to offer.

"Hockey's a big part of it, and the strength (sports performance) coaches giving them a fitness assessment is really valuable, but it's more about the experience of being a student-athlete at the university," Lowes said.

On Friday, players will have the option of attending another morning class and Convocation in the Vines Center before attending a panel discussion and Q&A session with Club Sports coaches and other representatives from 12:15-1:30 p.m. The players will then be divided into two groups for two more on-ice sessions at the LIC and meetings with coaches before having dinner at Reber-Thomas and enjoying a baseball game between Liberty and Jacksonville State from the Flames Train beyond the right-field fence.

"There are all of these activities planned on campus," Lowes said. "It is a busy weekend. There is a parent panel discussion and we are trying to give them the full exposure, as close to the college experience while they are still in high school.

Current members of the Lady Flames' DI and DII teams will join forces with the camp participants to give them a better sense of what it takes to play at the ACHA level.

"Playing in game situations is of great value for the kids, who get to come, experience the collegiate atmosphere, and be on the ice with college players, which provides a really good litmus test for where they are at," Lowes said. "We offer up the opportunity to sit down with a member of our coaching staff for a standard evaluation and feedback."

The action will conclude with a combined scrimmage on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Gallery: (4-9-2026) Women's hockey select camp over CFAW