Three Maple Ridge rugby league players will be on the pitch with Team Canada at the European Championships this summer.
Tristan Fletcher, Oliver Lenehan and Jacob Williams have made the U19 Wolverines squad that will compete in Pyrenees, France from July 12 to 18. All three currently play for the Vancouver Valley Vipers.
The schedule has Canada starting against Norway on July 12, facing Greece on July 15, and then Ireland on July 18. Canada is currrently ranked 31st in the rugby league world rankings.
First held in 2018, there will be a record 10 nations competing this year, and Canada will be in the Shield Tier, competing against the three nations they are scheduled to play. England, France, Scotland, Wales, Serbia and Ukrain make up the championship tier.
Lenehan and Fletcher will also be part of a men’s team headed to Norway, Scotland and the Netherlands as part of a European tour in early July. The national team leadership sees it as an important development event.
“This is the most significant tour in the Wolverines’ recent history,” said men’s national team coach Aaron Zimmerle, “facing three nations, all ranked above us, on their home soil, in offical ranking-poiint fixtures – this is exactly the environment our players need to grow.”