It is the junior edition of the IIHF Women's World Championship and participation is limited to female ice hockey players under 18 years of age.

The United States' national team won nine of sixteen championships and never ranked lower than third place.

The other national teams to have won bronze are the Czech Republic (2), Finland (2), and Russia (3).

The tournament can be interpreted as the women's counterpart of both the IIHF World Junior Championship and the IIHF World U18 Championship, though it is afforded significantly less in terms of resources or promotion than either of the junior men's tournaments.

[1] Media coverage of the women's tournament is similarly lacking in comparison.