U17 EASTERN CANADA CAMP SET FOR THIS WEEKEND

The Eastern Selection camp for Canada's U17 team concluded in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec this past weekend, providing some keen insights for coaches Jim Delaney and François Ratier on the talent pool he has available for selection across the country. While it is a valuable experience with team coaches - for the players the learning that comes from such an environment is very instrumental to development. "This camp is exactly what I expected and more," said Nova Scotia's Timothy Hart. "The level of play and tempo all exceeded my thoughts of what it was going to be. It is really enjoyable to be playing at such a high level because it forces me to play to the best of my ability." Newfoundland's Kyle Stanley says the trip to Quebec was well worth the effort. "I learned how to have better body position and how to attack with the ball harder and more direct," he explains. "I also made new friends that I will be keeping in touch with and I will be seeing them at nationals and easterns in the years to follow." The identification cycle for this year is well under way for the Canada U17's for the 2012 Wellington Festival with coaches attending some of the provincial selection events around the country. Also National coaches attended the Eastern Canadian Championships in New Brunswick and the recent National Festival in Calgary. From these events 45 athletes where invited and 39 were able to accept the invitation to this Eastern Canadian identification camp. "We have identified a good group of players from across Eastern Canada including for the first time in 4 years players from eastern Ontario and a couple of athletes from Nova Scotia and they are worthy of their selection," said Delaney. "We have worked this group for two days with two sessions a day. "Introducing the philosophies and techniques that will help them perform at the next level," he says. "The players have reacted very positively to the new information they have received. In the final day of the camp the players demonstrated the techniques they have learnt over the two days with a trail game consisting of three 20 minute periods. Next on the schedule for the Canada U17's is a Western Canadian identification camp in November where up to 40 athletes will go through the same process and be given the same information as these athletes have in Montreal. From these two identification events a squad will be selected for a final 2012 Wellington selection event later in 2011.