Isaac Kaay was at the Sydney Sevens last year as a spectator because his University of Victoria Vikes rugby squad just happened to be touring Australia at the time.
This year, he gets to be in the tournament for real.
Kaay, a fifth-year Vikes standout, will make his Team Canada debut at both the 2017 Sydney Sevens on Feb. 4-5 and Wellington Sevens on Jan. 27-28 as the roster was announced Tuesday.
“It’s pretty cool . . . I’m very excited . . . this is the biggest moment of my career,” said the UVic sociology major, about the full-circle nature of his journey to the national team from observer last year Down Under to participant this year.
Kaay was a hockey player before switching full time to rugby at South Kamloops Secondary, from where he was recruited by UVic.
And now he hopes to crack the national team fulltime as it builds long-term toward the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 2019 Lima Pan Am Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics
“I believe I can bring size, speed and athleticism,” said the six-foot-three and 225-pound Kaay.
“I’ve been improving and improving. [UVic Vikes coaches] Doug Tate and Rick Farrally have done a lot to help in my development. UVic’s and UBC’s success have shown you can develop young talent through the university system.”
The emergence hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Isaac has impressed me in training. He is a big, physical unit and will bring that hard edge to some of our forward play,” said Canadian head coach Damian McGrath.
Also named to the Canadian roster for Wellington and Sydney, the third and fourth stops on the 2016-17 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, are UVic Vikes products Nathan Hirayama, Lucas Hammond and Duncan’s Pat Kay, the latter who leads Canada in scoring this World Series season with 52 points.
A couple of Castaway Wanderers out of St. Michaels University School, Mike Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey, also got the nod.
Rounding out the roster for world No. 13 Canada are Justin Douglas, Harry Jones, Caleb Jordan, Karsten Leitner, Matt Mullins and Adam Zaruba.
Veteran captain John Moonlight from James Bay Athletic Association is finishing off firefighting school in Texas and has missed two weeks of training in Greater Victoria, so Jones will captain Canada in Wellington and Hirayama in Sydney. Moonlight will join the team in Wellington.
The Rio Olympics-bronze medallist Canadian women’s sevens team, also based in Langford, in preparing for the Sydney Sevens on Feb. 3-4, which is the second stop on the women’s HSBC World Series. The Canadian women’s roster will be announced Thursday.
The women’s and men’s teams have been training at Westhills Stadium, Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, and because of the recent adverse conditions, the men have also used the indoor field house at the Oak Bay Rec Centre.
Both the 10-event men’s and six-event women’s 2016-17 World Series seasons will feature Canadian stops. The men’s Canada Sevens is March 11-12 at B.C. Place, with the lower bowl already sold out and more than 33,000 fans expected each day. The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadian women’s team will host the female Canada Sevens tournament May 27-28 at Westhills Stadium.
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