BC Rugby is delighted to announce the players that will be taking part in Selection Camps for the 2019 BC Rugby Age Grade Representative (Rep) XVs Teams. Squads of 30 players have been invited to attend week-long camps at Shawnigan Lake and UBC that will commence this week. Coaches will work with the players through a variety of sessions both on and off-field.
Over 151 boys and girls were identified over the last two months, including ID sessions across the Province, the Spring High School Rugby season and the recent Provincial Regional Championships at UBC. Coaching teams will now spend five days working with and observing the athletes as they build their best travelling teams for the upcoming Western Canadian Championships (WCC).
Two separate WCC events are set to take place this summer, one in Kelowna, BC from 25-28 July for U15 & U16 teams and the other in Regina, SK from August 1-4 for U17 & U18. These tournaments, having launched successfully in 2018, bring together teams of top players from BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A total of nine teams, five boys’ and four girls’, will compete for BC at these tournaments, looking for meaningful competition and an opportunity to face unfamiliar opponents.
“These camps are a unique opportunity to develop both our players and coaches” commented Aaron Takel, Men’s Rugby Growth and Development Manager. “We have identified some great playing talent again this summer and it will be exciting to watch how the teams start to take shape during the camps.”
A number of matches will take place over at Shawnigan Lake School as part of the boys’ camps, with teams from Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA), Bromsgrove School and New Hall School from England. In parallel, the girls’ camp with host inter-team matches to see how the players perform in live game scenarios. As the BC Age-Grade Rep XVs Programs are using these games as part of a selection camp, no rosters will be released. Coaches are experimenting with multiple player combinations and tactics and will confirm their travelling teams at the start of next week.
