Over 100 British Columbia youth will travel to Kelowna in about two weeks to represent the province and scrum it out at the upcoming U16 Western Championships.
The top athletes selected for the teams were hand-picked from over 250 athletes by BC coaching staff over five days following two successful camps that took place at Shawnigan Lake School, for the Boys' clubs, and UBC's Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre for the Girls' clubs.
"This year's BC Rugby Rep XV Team Selection Camps have been a real highlight for both players and coaches," said Aaron Takel, Growth and Development Manager (Men & Boys).
"We engaged players across a multitude of different challenges and development sessions, working to expand their rugby horizons and forge strong bonds between teammates. It will be exciting to see how this culture, attitude and playing style translates on to the field at upcoming tournaments."
The players chosen to bear the province's colours in the tournament will compose five different teams. For the Girls' XV club there's a U16 and U15 team, and for the Boys' XV club there's a U15 team as well as U16 Blue and U16 Gold teams.
BC Rugby is expecting an elevated level of competition on the pitch for the Western Championships' second year with the level of talent coming from the participating provinces including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Saskatchewan and Manitoba, specifically, will field new U16 Girls teams this year to diversify the competition.
Last year, BC teams won 14 of their 18 matches, with the U16 Boys Blue XV team and U16 Girls XV team dominating the field and going undefeated in tournament play.
Joining the mix from the Thompson-Okanagan region is:
Stephanie Hickson - Penticton Secondary (Penticton, BC)
Tia Jordo - Kelowna Senior Secondary (Kelowna, BC)
Gracey Larson - Mount Boucherie Secondary (West Kelowna, BC)
Harleen Heyer - Kamloops Rugby Club (Kamloops, BC)
Mike Jowsey - Kelowna Crows RC (Kelowna, BC)
Evan Pankiw-Arsenault - Penticton Secondary (Penticton, BC)
Max Therrien - Kelowna Crows RC (Kelowna, BC)
Sullivan Curran - Kelowna Senior Secondary (Kelowna, BC)
Sol Jacques - Penticton Secondary (Penticton, BC)
Action will begin at the Parkinson Recreation Park in Downtown Kelowna on July 25 and run until July 28 with a break on Saturday for player recovery. The official schedule will be available soon here.
