Tsawwassen's Graeme Carswell and Andrew Kanerva are playing for Canada's national junior men's field hockey team this week in a four match test series against the United States junior national team in California.
The series got underway on Monday and concludes Thursday with matches taking place in Moorpark. This is Canada's first competition since its silver medal finish at the Pan American Junior Championships in September which secured a berth in next year's World Junior Cup.
Kanerva is one of five players from that team who will also be wearing Canadian colours in California. He is joined by Taylor Curran, Gordon Johnston, Brenden Bissett, Tristan Burgoyne.
Carswell played for his country for the first time at last summer's 3 Nations Tournament in Vancouver. He has been training with the team since. The roster was selected based on athlete performances at the men's national identification camp in early November.
"The depth of performance at the ID Camp was exceptional," says head coach Mathias Ahrens. "We were able to identify a number of talented athletes with strong abilities and enthusiasm. At the USA series I will look to see who will continue to step up on the international level."
"The USA will be a tough opponent - they will definitely challenge us. As we prepare for the Junior World Cup, this series is an opportunity to gain valuable international experience as we integrate several new players."
