The finest female hockey that the southwest and province has to offer will be on full display Saturday in Gull Lake.

The Gull Lake Female Hockey Showcase crowds four games on the schedule at the Gull Lake & Community Rec Complex.

The Midget AA Wildcats are up first, taking on the Notre Dame AA Hounds at 10:30 a.m. in exhibition action.

After that, the newly formed Bantam AA Wildcats play their first-ever action as a team, facing Lethbridge at 12:30 p.m. - that, too, is an exhibition game.

The lone game that counts in the standings comes at 3 p.m., as the Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats square off with the Battlefords Sharks.

The Wildcats played a regular season game against the Sharks in Gull Lake last season as well, where Swift Current beat up on Battlefords 7-3 as part of Hockey Day in Saskatchewan.

"It's nerve-racking, because I'm like the hometown girl in the game," said Gull Lake product Baylee Kirwan. "It should be good, it's exciting. We'll get to start league, new uniforms - everything will start fresh."

Events like the Gull Lake Female Hockey Showcase, as Kirwan also noted was the case in Hockey Day in Saskatchewan, certainly helps in growing the passion for the sport in the region.

"They get to look up and say 'I want to be a Wildcat one day' - I know that was me when I was little," she said. "Definitely I hope the little kids feel the same way, and they start to play hockey like I did."

The final game of the day pits two U Sports teams against each other. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies battle the Lethbridge Pronghorns at 7 p.m. It's a game that features a pair of former Wildcats.

Hodgeville's Brooklyn Haubrich is now in her fifth and final year and captaining the Huskies, while fourth-year defenceman Kayla Kirwan will get to once again get to play in her hometown of Gull Lake in the showcase.

"It's exciting. She'll be in Gull Lake too, so I'll get to see her again," said younger sister Baylee, whose cousin is also playing on the Bantam AA Wildcats.

"I'll get to be at the rink all day watching some of us who are all gone, but we all get to go back to our hometown and play."

We'll have a recap of the showcase, which also includes a Sunday rematch between the Bantam AA Wildcats and Lethbridge, online after the weekend.