By Paul Osborne

Rugby Canada has announced a 12-strong women's Rugby Sevens team for the Youth Olympic Games ©Getty ImagesRugby Canada has today named a 12-strong women's rugby sevens team for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

The team will be led by a trio of key figures from the Canadian development team, the Maple Leafs, from over the past year - Hannah Darling, Charity Williams and Chanelle Challenger, with the three hoped to lead by example both on and off the pitch.

The rest of the team consists of Moanda Anglo, Catherine Boudreault, Pamphinette Buisa, Ashley Gordon, Lauren Kerr, Jenna Morrison, Kaitlyn Richard, Cassidy Schmidt and Maddy Seatle.

They will be looking to emulate the success of the senior Canada women's sevens team which came third in the latest International Rugby Board (IRB) Women's Sevens World Series.

"Anytime one of our sevens' programmes competes, seniors or Maple Leafs, we believe we can win," said coach John Tait.

"Now, with our youngest national squad to date, under-18s, getting a chance to compete internationally, our goal will be no different.

"We will strive to finish top of our pool and give ourselves the best position to win all of the knockout rounds."

"The girls who've been selected are all super keen to represent Canada and continue the legacy the seniors have built over the past few years.

"In fact, some girls are already matching senior players in terms of physical metrics and tournaments of this magnitude help fast track their growth and development towards being Olympic Sevens athletes."

The team announcement comes following the successful 2013-2014 campaign for the Canada Women's Sevens as they finished third in the IRB Women's Sevens World Series ©Getty ImagesThe team announcement comes following the successful 2013-2014 campaign for the Canada Women's Sevens as they finished third in the IRB Women's Sevens World Series
©Getty Images



The Canada coaching staff will use the Youth Olympic Games as a tool for assessing and developing young athletes who have been identified over recent years.

Players who play on this year's squad have the potential to be members of Canada's Olympic team at Tokyo 2020, and some may even be considered for Rio 2016, according to Rugby Canada.

The team qualified for the Summer Youth Olympic Games after finishing second at the 2013 Women's Rugby Sevens World Cup in Russia.

It will compete against five of the world's best women's rugby sevens teams - Spain, China, Tunisia, United States and Australia - from August 17 to 20 at the Youth Olympic Sports Park.

It is the first time rugby sevens will be contested at the Games, held for the first time in Singapore in 2010.

The Youth Olympic Games will be held from August 16 to 28 and are expected to see around 3,600 athletes from 204 nations compete across 28 sports.

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