A handful of local roller hockey players represented Canada and returned home with medals from the FIRS world inline hockey championships.
The tournament was held last month in Huntington Beach, Calif. with more than 20 countries for the gold medals in their respective age groups.
The players all play locally out of the Langley Hockey House.
The junior girls team — which featured Jessica Golz, Brianna Tham, Alexandra Frisk and Olivia Hutchinson — won silver after losing 3-2 to the host American side in the final.
The junior boys team — with the Langley trio of Brighton MacDonald, Ryan Donaldson and Dylan Churchwell — returned with the bronze medal after beating Colombia. The U.S. had beat them in the semifinals.
And the senior men’s team featured Langley’s Mishka Drury. The team advanced to the gold medal game but lost to the Czech Republic.
Meka Trepanier, one of the owners of the Langley Hockey House, served as head coach of the junior girls team and assistant with the junior boys.
“It was an amazing experience to get to work with the national team as a coach, getting to help local athletes that you work with on a weekly basis at the local rink get to experience something like this, is a great feeling,” Trepanier said.
“All the teams were really strong, I’m very proud to have come home with a medal,” said Churchwell.
“I got to hang out with players from around the world and made some friends for life,” added MacDonald. “This was a great experience.”
The 2014 world championships will be held in France.
