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Canadian national men's sevens coach Geraint John is excited for the future of the sport in Canada, after naming his squad for the second and third legs of the 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai and Port Elizabeth.
John has named a 12-man squad riddled with mix of youth and experience after a weekend camp in Victoria with four players set to make their debut.

"We've named a core group of experienced players and some youngsters who really have the potential to develop," said John. "The young guys impressed greatly with their skills and their ability to play the game."

Canada, who won the Bowl in Hong Kong earlier this year, will play in five rounds on the 2011/12 Series, beginning in Dubai on 2-3 December.

New to the circuit and the Canada's national sevens outfit, John has brought Youth Commonwealth Games athletes Lukas Balkovec, Lucas Hammond and Conor McCann into the fold, and Connor Braid, who played for Canada's 15s side in the 2010 Churchill Cup, is also set to make his sevens debut.

"It's exciting times," added John. "We need to have an eye for the future and getting young players involved is a way to do that. We're excited to be able to give the young guys a go."

John credits much of the development of these players to Canada's under-18 program, which finished fifth at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Isle of Man in September.

"Having the under-18 program was a huge bonus and we need to look at having more development like this.
"The more we do, the better it will be because it has certainly paid off in dividends in developing players."

As part of his selection process, and on top of annual develop camps, John holds a selection camp a week prior to each tour and last weekend's proved fruitful as several positions were up for grabs with six of Canada's Pan American Games gold medalists unavailable due to injury, professional contracts or university studies.

"Certain circumstances have opened up an opportunity for these younger players. We felt they deserved their selection," explained John, who will be assisted by Kieran Crowley.

However, Canada will also have a vast amount of experience for Dubai and Port Elizabeth, led by captain Phil Mack, who has tallied more than 600 points for Canada.

Pan Am athletes Sean Duke, Ciaran Hearn, Nathan Hirayama, John Moonlight and Sean White also retain their red and white strips after strong contributions in Guadalajara, Mexico, with Hearn, Hirayama and White also part of Canada's Rugby World Cup efforts in New Zealand.

Canadian men's sevens squad - Dubai, Port Elizabeth
1. Lukas Balkovec
2. Connor Braid
3. Dustin Dobravsky
4. Sean Duke
5. Lucas Hammond
6. Ciaran Hearn
7. Nathan Hirayama
8. Phil Mack
9. Conor McCann
10. John Moonlight
11. Beau Parker
12. Sean White