BC Elite Youth Sevens players headed to Vegas
VANCOUVER – Head coach of the British Columbia Elite Youth Sevens program Shane Thompson has announced his traveling roster for the team’s Las Vegas tournament on February 11th.
The squad of 24 players born in 1994 and ’95 will compete in an invitational against the following Under-18 teams; USA High School All-Americans, Saskatchewan’s Dog River Howlers, USA’s Mid-Atlantic Selects, Utah Selects and Colorado Selects.
The province’s elite youngsters will then take in the USA Sevens as spectators. The two-day tournament is the only North American stop on the InternationalRugby Board Sevens World Series circuit.
BCEY7s Program
With rugby sevens being included in the Olympic games as of 2016, and driven by the private support of donors, the British Columbia Rugby Union created theelite program to develop players to represent Canada and BC with distinction at future international events. Leading the program is Canada’s most capped sevens player and former sevens national team coach Shane Thompson.
Over the past six months, Thompson held identification camps across the provincebefore holding an elite selection camp on the weekend of January 7-9 at theUniversity of Victoria.
A total of 37 invited players attended sessions led by Thompson, former internationals Morgan Williams and Winston Stanley and former Canadian headcoach Doug Tate. The players then participated in a round robin tournament where Thompson was able to make his final selections for the tour.
Las Vegas Tour
For many of the players, this will be their first test of playing rugby sevens, rather than the more traditional 15-a-side rugby played in Canada.
“It’s amazing how quickly these players are picking up the technical aspects of rugby sevens and I’ve been really impressed with their growth from camp to camp,” Thompson said.
“These elite athletes are proving the concept that they need to practice and play the game to get better. They’re being exposed to sevens so much earlier than our current sevens internationals and we’re all excited to see this next batch of elite sevens players develop.”
BC Rugby Sevens
Starting this summer, BC Rugby plans to compliment the current development pathway in place for 15-a-side rugby. The 2011 Western Canada Summer Games will feature rugby sevens and a sevens Provincial Regional Championship has alsobeen scheduled.
Vegas BCEY7s Roster:
Name (Region/ Club/ School)
Jordan Best (Valley East/ Abbotsford/Robert Bateman)
Deon Clifford (Valley West/ Bayside/Earl Marriott)
Jordan De Graaf (North Island/ G.P. Vanier)
Bobby Devaney (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Sean Einerson (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Fergus Hall (South Island/Oak Bay/ Castaway Wanderers)
Michael Harvey (Vancouver North/ Capilano/ Rockridge)
Avi Horwitz (Vancouver West/Shawnigan Lake School)
Alex Kanty (South Island/Oak Bay/ Castaway Wanderers)
Joey Kenville (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Riley Macpherson (South Island/Oak Bay/ Castaway Wanderers)
Gavin Mclean (North Island/ G.P. Vanier)
Ian McMaster (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Cody Mastin-Pitman (Vancouver North/ Capilano/ Carson Graham)
Chris Miles (South Island/ Shawnigan Lake School)
Jeff Nishima-Miller (South Island/ Castaway Wanderers/ Oak Bay)
Ollie Nott (North Island/ Shawnigan Lake School)
Sam Overton (Okanagan/ Okanagan Mission)
James Pitblado (Vancouver West/ Vancouver Rowing Club/ St George’s)
Robert Jones (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Quinton Willms (Valley West/ Bayside/ Earl Marriott)
Nathan Yanagiya (Vancouver North/ Capilano/ Carson Graham)
-30-
