Three members of the Belleville Junior Bulldogs were among 61 players from across the country who took part in the Rugby Canada U18 women’s identification camp held recently at RMC in Kingston.

Tia Svoboda of Belleville, Emilie Merilainen of Batawa and Taryn McLachlan of Trenton were selected to participate in the week-long training camp. Svoboda attends Centennial Secondary School; Merilainen and McLachlan are at Trenton High.

Ontario had the largest representation at the I.D. camp, with 29 players. With three, Bulldogs were tied for most players from one club among Ontarians.

Other players hailed from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Maritimes.

Head coach at the camp was Dan Valley of Oakville while members of the Canadian senior women’s national team staff were also in attendance — including head coach Francois Ratier.

Valley said the U18 I.D. program is designed to produce future members of Canada’s national teams.

“ Ultimately, the purpose is to identify and develop athletes who have the potential to compete with our national U20 and national senior women’s team players to compete for spots at the 2021 and 2025 World Cups — hopefully some end up at the Olympics too,” said Valley. “Our job, as a U18 program staff, is to collaborate with the athletes and their provincial unions to drive their development forward for as long as these athletes are in the U18 program, at which point they will be more prepared to enter the U20 pool and continue to develop.”

Players will be chosen from the Kingston camp to attend upcoming East and West regional camps, followed by a tour to the United Kingdom in April.

Valley said players were invited to the Kingston camp following extensive scouting and information trading by the U18 national staff, in concert with the U20 and senior women’s programs.

“ It was nice to finally see this group from across the country together in one place,” said Valley. “The I.D. process this summer was quite extensive, and was a lot of fun. But to finally get a chance to work with the development group we’ve assembled for the upcoming year was really exciting.

“ These athletes now have a more clear understanding of the pathway to play senior women’s rugby for Canada, and the commitment that it takes to perhaps one day represent their country at the senior level.”

Among the other Ontario clubs represented at the Kingston camp were the Oshawa Vikings, who sent two players — including Brooklyn Feasby. Her mother, Melanie (Hurst) hails from Belleville while her father, Scott, was a defenceman with the OHL Belleville Bulls from 1987-90.