Wesley Berg of the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs was among 24 players -- five from B.C. -- named to final team roster that will represent Canada at the 2012 FIL Under-19 men's field lacrosse world championships to be held next summer in Turku, Finland, it was announced Friday.
The final selection camp was held Nov. 25-27 in Oshawa, On and offered 50 spaces for players who were selected from over 200 candidates who put their name forward since the player-application period opened. The final selections also come after many weeks of Team Canada coaching staff and scouts scattered throughout the country, seeking out players, watching them in action and comparing notes for future programs, as well.
Last season, the prolific Berg, 18, racked up 114 points, including 60 goals, in 20 regular-season games at his runner position with the B.C. Jr. 'A' Adanacs. The six-foot-one, 180-pound Dr. Charles Best secondary school grad currently attends Colorado's Denver University on an athletic scholarship with the Pioneers.
Team Canada head coach Brodie Merrill -- a former WLA Sr. Adanac -- summarized the final selection camp as: "The players performed very well and conducted themselves with class on and off the field. The players experienced a lot of lacrosse in a short period of time and I was impressed with how they handled themselves. They showed strength through adversity and were able to sustain a high level of effort in order to compete throughout the entire weekend. I think it is a reflection of how important the national program is to young Canadian lacrosse players.
"We are confident in the team we have selected and confident in the process we went through to get to this point. The focus will now quickly shift to preparing the team for Finland."
Team Canada defensive co-ordinator Taylor Wray, another ex-Sr. Adanac, said: "This was certainly one of the deepest and most talented pools of defensive players we have ever had at Team Canada U-19 tryout. The final decisions were extremely difficult, but I feel we have selected the best group to represent our country and give us the opportunity to win the world championship. It is a versatile group of athletes with great speed, toughness, skill level and overall athleticism. We focused on selecting players we felt would operate well within the defensive system and would be able to able offer benefits to our transition game. I'm really looking forward to coaching this group."
Other teams at the world championships, which run from July 12-21, will include Australia, Bermuda, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Ireland, Iroquois Nationals, the Netherlands, the U.S., Wales and host Finland.
