A trio of Cranbrook boys will represent B.C. on the provincial rugby pitch in coming weeks.
Zak Campbell, Conor Sinclair and Callum Sinclair have all been selected to suit up for B.C. Rugby after representing Vancouver South at the B.C. Rugby Provincial Regional Championships in Burnaby from June 27 to 28.
Campbell suited up as a member of the U-14 squad, while both Sinclair brothers represented Vancouver South at the U-16 level.
The Provincial Regional Championships serve as part of the selection process for determining provincial squads at each age level.
Following regional tournament, Callum Sinclair was named to the B.C. Rugby’s U-14 team, which will train and compete in Kelowna from Aug. 4 to 10.
Campbell, along with Connor Sinclair, were named to the B.C. Rugby U-16 training team, which will train and compete in North Vancouver from July 12 to 18. From there, 24 players will be selected to represent B.C. Rugby in Kelowna at the Western National Training Camp, which takes place July 28 to 30 and leads into a set of matches against prairie rugby squads (July 31 and Aug. 2).
All three boys spent time in White Rock during the month of June to practice with their respective Vancouver South teams prior to the Provincial Regional Championships.
In order to compete at the Provincial Rugby Championships, the boys were left to join the Lower Mainland squads as no Kootenay regional team was entered into the tournament.
In addition to being named to the U-16 training squad, Conor Sinclair was also selected as a member of the B.C. Rugby U-16 sevens team.
This will be Conor’s second time representing B.C. as a member of its U-16 sevens squad. In February 2015, he travelled to Nevada for the Las Vegas Invitational Rugby Sevens Championships, where the B.C. U-16s claimed their divisional title after defeating Colorado, Ontario, Utah and a pair of U.S. regional teams.
“I was impressed with [Conor’s] work ethic and attitude,” said coach Tony LaCarte, following the 2015 North American Rugby Sevens Championships. “[He] ran well, distributed unselfishly, tackled fiercely and sold a nice dummy here and there.”
As a member of the U-16 sevens team, Conor will head to Victoria for training July 8 to 10 before taking to the pitch for the Victoria International Youth Sevens tournament from July 10 to 11.
Conor and his U-16 mates are registered in the U-18 open division and will face teams from Alberta, Utah, the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are comprised of seven players to a side, as opposed to the typical 15 players a side.
Rugby sevens has been recognized as an Olympic sport and will debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.