BRACEBRIDGE — The rugby challenges keep coming for Bracebridge teen Curtis Lauzon.
Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School student Lauzon, 16, will head to England and Wales for the next level in rugby on Team Canada’s under-17 team.
He will compete at the Wellington Festival at the end of March. The festival brings together top rugby players from all over Europe. The Canadian squad will face teams from Italy, Portugal and Scotland.
Lauzon was selected from two teams on a special rugby tour in January and February. The tour happened in Vancouver and Santa Barbara, California. Lauzon was on the B-squad that played in Vancouver.
In November, Lauzon and 55 other players from across Canada completed gruelling training at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island in order to make the national squad.
Only four players from Lauzon’s B-squad development team were selected to go to England and Wales to represent Canada.
The Vancouver training gave Lauzon plenty of one-on-one time with coaches. It also allowed for practice time, including three games against all-star teams, he said.
“We had some tough competition,” said Lauzon.
To make it even tougher, Lauzon, who normally plays the prop position, was sent into the hooker position.
The coach told him on the plane over to Vancouver that he would be taking on the new position.
“I had to learn really quickly,” he said.
Lauzon did well, scoring the most ties on his team.
This will be the first time he has headed overseas. He said he is not nervous about the event.
“I haven’t felt nervous. I have been excited the whole time,” he said.
The tournament runs from March 26 to April 10, which means more time away from school. Lauzon said his teachers are very supportive of his rugby goals and he will be able to make up the time.
Last year, Lauzon played for Ontario’s under-16 squad. He hopes to make the province’s under-17 team this year.
The trip to the United Kingdom is costly. Lauzon said he has found financial support from the women’s baseball team in Bracebridge, Bracebridge Repair Centre and Welding and the correctional officers at Beaver Creek Institution.