As far as Justin Chan is concerned, playing rugby 7s for Canada at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia, running from July 6-17, will be his career highlight.

"I have to say this is arguably the biggest," said Chan. "This is my first time representing my country, which is a huge honour. I’d rank this No. 1."

Throughout his rugby career, the 21-year-old has had some pretty good experiences.

During his time at St. John’s College, Chan played scrum half and made the provincial under-17, under-18 and under-19 teams. After graduating from SJC, the son of George and Lee Ann decided to attend Western University.

"I wanted to play somewhere where it would be competitive and I’d get some good playing time as well," explained Chan.

In his first year at university, Chan played on Western’s developmental team. Since then, in his second and third years, he’s played on the regular 15s team with great success.

Converted to wing and fullback, Chan was on the 2011 team that won the Ontario University Athletics championship and the 2012 team that finished as runners-up.

The position change didn’t hinder him from contributing to the team’s success.

"Definitely, because the responsibility you have in a game changes going from scrum half to the wing," said Chan of the difficulty in moving from No. 9 to out further in the backs.

"The role you play is different. You have to be a little quicker and do some more tackling.

"I think I handled it well."

Chan, who will be entering his fourth year of a kinesiology program, has also played 7s in the spring for the Mustangs. It was during his team’s championship loss to the University of Victoria this past spring where he got noticed for the Canadian team that will attend the Games.

When he got an e-mail informing him he was one of the 12 players who had been selected to represent his country, Chan was ecstatic.

"This is my first opportunity to represent Canada," he said. "I really relish the opportunity.

"I knew about the tournament but it was a surprise. I was very happy."

Chan will be going to the Games with his Western teammate and roommate, Ade Ojo. Ojo, a Whitby native, is an outside centre and the two have played with each other since they were on the provincial teams.

Chan said playing 7s is a lot different from playing 15s.

"With 7s you play a lot of games and it’s tiring," he said. "Everyone gets a good amount of minutes. I expect to be in a good rotation and get some good time."

Canada will play Russia (July 14), Poland (July 14) and the Ukraine (July 15) in the round robin, with the final slated for July 17.

Chan said he’s done what he can to get ready.

"You run and do all this training but when you’re in a game, you always feel like you’re out of shape," he said.

"My roommate and I have been training for the last two months. Ever since we found out, pretty much everyday we’ve been doing two-a-days trying to get in the best shape possible."

brian.smiley@sunmedia.ca twitter.com/expbsmiley