Five Bayside Rugby Club members and one coach are headed to Nevada next month, after being selected to represent B.C. at the the Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament.
Heading to Vegas as part of Team BC’s U18 side are Bayside Sharks Tomasi Vataiki and Shane Dagg, while Nico Docolas, Nick Collett and Cali Martinez will play for the province’s U17 team.
Last August, Docolas, Martinez and Collett were part of the Canadian U16 team that won a 15-a-side rugby national championship in Sherbrooke, Que.
In addition, White Rock’s Tony LaCarte is a member of Team BC’s coaching staff under head coach Shane Thompson.
The B.C. rosters were finalized after a handful of regional and provincial identification camps.
The two B.C. teams are the tournament’s defending champions in both the High School Elite and High School divisions.
“This tour will expose these young athletes to a full weekend of the international rugby sevens experience,” Thompson said.
“They will be prepared in a sevens environment, compete in a sevens tournament and will get to see top level international teams competing at the Las Vegas Sevens, an official stop on the International Rugby Board World Series Sevens circuit.”
The Las Vegas Sevens tournament runs Feb. 8-10. For more information on the event, visit www.usasevens.com