Greater Trail minor hockey product Jacob Smith will join the best players in BC after earning an invite to BC Hockey’s U16 Provincial camp.
Following a successful regional camp, Smith, who turns 15 this summer, was one of 160 players invited to attend the BC Cup in Salmon Arm last month. His performance obviously impressed, as Jacob was one of 60 players from across BC and the Yukon invited to the U16 Provincial camp in Shawnigan Lake, July 29-Aug. 3.
Related read: New recruits impress at Trail Smoke Eaters camp
Smith played Bantam Rep last year and helped the team to a bronze medal at the provincials in March. He also was an affiliate player for the BC Major Midget Kootenay Ice, where he will play this season.
Trail Smoke Eaters coach and GM Jeff Tambellini had nothing but good things to say about the talented forward following a good showing at the Smokies spring camp.
“The biggest surprise in camp was Jacob Smith, a 2004 birth date,” said Tambellini. “If there was one surprise, it was him, we thought he was outstanding. He was the best player for his age group, and he’s got great things ahead of him.”
As a result, Jacob was also invited to attend the Smoke Eaters’ Greater Vancouver Spring ID camp from May 31 to June 2.
The Shawnigan camp will introduce the Program of Excellence (POE) athletes to the most up to date information and concepts as they relate to both national and international levels of hockey, and include on and off-ice activities.
Athletes will take advantage of the facilities on the Shawnigan Lake School campus, including an arena built in 2014 that has been used by the Vancouver Canucks for their rookie camp.
The Top 20 prospects from the Male U16 Provincial Camp will be selected for Team BC that will play in the Western Hockey League (WHL) Cup in February. Team BC is the defending champion of the event, which features male U16 teams from the four western provinces (Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan) and is held in non-Canada Winter Games years.
The BC Hockey Male POE was introduced in 1980 with the mandate to systematically identify and train the province’s elite-level players for high-performance hockey events. The overall objective of the program is to increase the chances of athletes from BC to compete provincially, regionally, nationally and internationally with the ultimate goal being selected to Hockey Canada’s National Junior or National Senior Team.
sports@trailtimes.ca
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