Amanda Benoit-Wark (born January 22, 1976) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. Benoit-Wark played for the

Canada women's national ice hockey team The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada in women's hockey. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and participates in international competitions ...

from 1996 to 2004. Benoit is a two-time World Champion playing in both 1999 and 2000 World Championships.

Playing career

During the 1980s, she played organized hockey in Welland, Ontario and with the Stoney Creek Minor Hockey Association, capturing MVP honours at Stoney Creek in 1988. In 1993, she was selected to play with Team Ontario Red at the 1993 Canadian national women's under-18 championship. Not only would she emerge with the gold medal, but she was recognized as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. With the Beatrice Aeros of the former Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL), Benoit-Wark appeared at the Esso Women's National Championships on seven occasions. She would enjoy six podium finished, including the gold medal in 2000 and 2004, along with three silver medals (1996, 1998, 2002) and one bronze (1999). Complementing this stellar run was tournament MVP honours in 1998.

Hockey Canada

Benoit-Wark's first appearance with the Canadian National Women's Team was at the 1996 4 Nations Cup. Hosted in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario (the host city for the inaugural IIHF Women's World Championships), she would win gold with Team Canada. Two years later, she would appear once again in the 4 Nations Cup (contested in Kuortane, Finland), capturing another gold medal. In 1999, Benoit-Wark would make her first appearance at the IIHF Women's World Championships, helping Canada to a gold medal, avenging their loss to the United States at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. Benoit would capture another gold medal at the IIHF Women's Worlds in 2000, as the event was contested on Canadian ice in Mississauga, Ontario. Later that year, Benoit-Wark would play in her third 4 Nations Cup (played in Provo, Utah), obtaining another gold medal. Attending Canada's centralization training camp in advance of the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games, she was released from the roster on December 15, 2001 with

Gillian Apps Gillian Mary Apps (born November 2, 1983) is a women's ice hockey player. Apps was a member of the Canadian National Hockey Team that won back to back Gold Medals in three consecutive Olympic Games. As a psychology major at Dartmouth College in ...

. Benoit was asked to stay and train with the team, and was later added as an alternate player.

Other

Also a member of the

Canada women's national inline hockey team Canada women's national inline hockey team is the national team for Canada, which participates at the FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships, an event by the Comité International de Roller In-Line Hockey (CIRILH), an organization and disciplin ...

, winning a gold medal at the 2004

FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships The Inline Hockey World Championship is an annual inline hockey tournament organized by World Skate. Prior to the creation of World Skate in September 2017, the championship was administrated by the Comité International Roller In-Line Hockey ( ...

in London, Ontario.

Coaching career

Benoit-Wark was named an assistant coach of Canada's National Women's Development Team for the 2016-17 season. She has served as the head coach of the girls' hockey team at Ridley College since 2008. She would capture a gold medal as a member of the coaching staff for Canada's National Women's Development Team at the 2015 Nations Cup. In 2012 and 2013, Wark served as one of the camp coaches with Canada's National Women's Development Team in 2012 and 2013.

Awards and honours

*1993, Most Valuable Player, Canadian women's U18 championship *1997-98, COWHL Most Valuable Player *Best Forward, 1998 Esso National championships

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit-Wark, Amanda 1976 births Canadian women's ice hockey centres Canadian women's national inline hockey team players Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people Sportspeople from Welland