Chilliwack’s Ben Hagkull is part of an 11 man roster that will represent British Columbia at the 2018 Junior National Championships.
On Tuesday afternoon the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society revealed the athletes who will travel to Longeuil, Quebéc this weekend for an event that is hosted by Parasports Quebéc and runs today (Friday) through Sunday.
Hagkull is the lone local, joined by Joel Ewert (Prince George), Thomas Venos (Coquitlam), Ben Garrett (Abbottsford), Matthew Norris (Maple Ridge), Lannette Boland (Pender Island), Ryleigh Bissenden (Victoria), Tanner Jung (Langley), Joel Aukema (Langley), Nicholas Van Bakel (Pender Island) and Gabriel Harrison (Pender Island).
The team will be led by head coach Simon Cass (Victoria) and assistant coach Kelly Harris (Nanaimo).
Junior National Championships happen every fourth year. Team B.C. finished fourth at the 2014 tournament in Edmonton.
“Junior Nationals are an important tournament in the overall development of Team B.C. athletes,”said Cass. “This tournament will act as a seeding event for next February’s Canada Games in Red Deer, Alberta.”
Many members of Team B.C., Hagkull included, represented their province at the B.C. Winter Games, which ran Feb. 22-25 in Kamloops.
Flying the Fraser Valley banner, they advanced to the bronze medal match where they fell 32-32 to Cariboo-Northeast.
More info on the 2018 Junior National Championships can be found online at wheelchairbasketball.ca/event/2018-junior-national-championship/