Seattle, WA: The BC Elite Youth Sevens Under-18 men's team participated in an exhibition series held in conjunction with the Northwest Collegiate Sevens championship in Seattle this past Sunday and came away with a perfect 3-0 record. The BC U18 squad twice defeated the University of Washington Youth Program, first by a score of 36-5 and then a by a closer 26-12 margin. The BC team also downed the Central Washington Freshmen 36-5.
The BC Elite Youth Sevens team featured three players from Canada's U18 squad that placed fifth at the Youth Commonwealth Games this past September. Spencer Miller and and Luke Zandbergen were also on the roster, two players who played a key role in securing the Western Canada Summer Games gold medal in Kamloops this past August.
"The games in Seattle were a great opportunity to get these guys playing sevens rugby and to start preparing for Las Vegas after the Christmas break," said BCEY7s head coach Shane Thompson. "Not only was this an opportunity to play, it was also a chance for the BCEY7s program to help develop the game of Sevens Rugby and build cross border competition. Helping our neighbours will help us in the long run, as we need competitions to get better and games this close to home are hard to come by."
Thompson was also quick to point out that although this roster performed well, the selection process for future tours has only just begun for the 2011/2012 season. "Although this group went to Seattle, it doesn't necessarily mean this will be the group that travels to Vegas. That process begins this Friday at South Surrey with the first Youth Sevens open trial of the season. "
Game 1: BCEY7s U18 [36 - 5] Washington State Youth Tries: Jorden Best x2, Fergus Hall x2, Ian McMaster, Bobby Devaney
Conversions: Fergus Hall x2
Game 2: BCEY7s U18 [36 - 5] Central Washington FreshmenTries: Ian McMaster x3, Fergus Hall, Nathan Yanagiya, Jeff Nishima-Miller
Conversions: Fergus Hall x3
Game 3: BCEY7s U18 [26 - 12] Washington State YouthTries: Spencer Miller x2, Quinton Willms, Nathan Yanagiya
Conversions: Quinton Willms x3
BC Elite Youth 7s U18 Roster: Name (Club/ School)Jorden Best (Abbotsford RFC/ Robert Bateman)
Bobby Devaney (Bayside Sharks RFC/ Earl Marriott)
Fergus Hall (Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Glenlyon Norfolk)
Robert Jones (Bayside Sharks RFC/ Lord Tweedsmuir)
Ian McMaster (Bayside Sharks RFC/ Earl Marriott)
Spencer Miller (Abbotsford RFC/ Yale)
Jeff Nishima-Miller (Castaway Wanderers RFC/ Saint Michael's University School)
Quinton Willms (Bayside Sharks RFC/ Earl Marriott)
Nathan Yanagiya (Capilano RFC/ Carson Graham)
Luke Zandbergen (Surrey Beavers RFC/ Lord Tweedsmuir)
Shane Thompson, head coach of the BC Elite Youth Sevens program will be at South Surrey Athletic Complex this Friday holding the first open trial of 2011/2012 season. Males born in 1994-1995 (under-18) are encouraged to attend. The trial will be held from 11:30am-2:30pm. Those interested in attending are encouraged to contact Thompson through email at sthompson@bcrugby.com
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