January 22, 2007
ROBERT KITAMURA NAMED DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS FOR TEAM ONTARIO
Toronto - The Ontario Under 17 Program Policy Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Kitamura as Director of Operations for Ontario's Under 17 Team through 2009.
"There were many outstanding candidates from which to choose from," noted Louis Salatino Chairman of the Under 17 Policy Committee. "The committee is very pleased with their selection and is confident that the appointment of Mr. Kitamura will provide an excellent foundation of leadership and excellence for Team Ontario to build upon over the next two seasons."
"It is with great pride and enthusiasm that I accept the role of Director of Operations of Team Ontario. I look forward to the challenge of identifying and evaluating Ontario's high performance hockey players at this age classification. We will begin the process of identifying our athletes with regional camps that will be held throughout the Province during April and May 2007. We will conclude the identification process with a final Provincial camp that will be held at York University from June 25 to July 1, 2007. Our ultimate goal is to name a team that will represent Ontario and win a gold medal at the 2007/2008 World Hockey Challenge being held in London Ontario later this year. " stated Kitamura.
Kitamura is currently the Director of Central Scouting for the Ontario Hockey League. As Director of Operations, he will assist the Under 17 Policy Committee in selecting a coaching staff while co-ordinating all scouting assignments, training camps and competitive events that the team will be involved with during 2007/2008 and 2008/2009.
The Under 17 Program will be holding their Provincial camp this year at York University from June 25 through July 1, 2007 and will be hosted by the Ontario Hockey Federation.
The Ontario Under 17 Program is a component of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence and is co-ordinated through the Hockey Development Centre for Ontario on behalf of their 3 Ontario Branches. The program receives financial support from the Ministry of Health Promotion. In total, more than 1200 players will participate at regional Under 17 identification camps throughout Ontario this spring.
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