BC Hockey has announced the 60 players selected for the Male U16 Provincial Camp, and Abbotsford talent will be well-represented.
The event, which runs from July 29 to Aug. 3 in Shawnigan Lake, features four Abbotsford products and nine others who honed their skills at Abbotsford’s Yale Hockey Academy.
The 60 players will be divided into three teams (yellow, white and blue) for the camp.
Abbotsford hockey products Liam Vanderkooi, Graham Sward, Jake Chiasson and Jayden Martin all head to the camp. Vanderkooi, Sward and Chiasson all also play for YHA, while Martin played for Shawnigan Lake School last season.
It’s been a good month for Chiasson, Sward and Vanderkooi, who were all drafted by Western Hockey League teams on May 3 in that league’s bantam draft. The trio all also played their minor hockey with the Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association.
Chiasson, Vanderkooi and Martin have all been named to Team BC Yellow, while Sward is suiting up for Team BC White.
Other YHA products attending the camp include: Devin Benson (blue), Kobe Verbicky (blue), Brayden Melnyk (white), Parker Bell (white), Logan Stankoven (white), Ashton Taylor (white), Nolan Bentham (yellow), Tyson Galloway (yellow), Zackary Funk (yellow) and Ty Gagno (yellow).
The players were invited to attend the camp based on their performance at the U16 BC Cup that was held in Salmon Arm in April. This winter, 20 players will be selected to Team BC, which will compete at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer taking place in February.
For more information on the camp, visit bchockey.net.
