Tom Kudaba of the Terry Fox Ravens will be back as head coach of the B.C. Under-18 team that will compete in the 2011 Football Canada Cup from July 9-16 in Lethbridge, Alta.
Kudaba is among five returning members on the coaching staff that guided B.C. to the bronze medal last year at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Also, Bernie Crump of the Pinetree Timberwolves will serve as general manager of this year's unit.
Football BC has invited 132 players to a team mini-camp May 21-23 at Simon Fraser University, with the Terry Fox Ravens leading all high-school representatives with 12. Four other teams are tied for the second most with eight apiece.
The final roster of 40 players will be selected after the mini-camp.
Among the Ravens invited to the mini-camp are defensive backs Gage Brunet, Joseph Gabriele, Mike Hemsworth and Grayson Medwid; defensive linemen Tyrel Ratich and Jeffrey Tilkin; linebackers Mark Casuga and Jake Nylund; offensive linemen Jonathon Tam and Mason Woods; quarterback Trevor Casey; and receiver Matthew Jeffers.
Six Centennial Centaurs are also set to attend, including offensive linemen Michael Couture and Curtis Michael; defensive backs Michael Spencer and Jason Buren; defensive lineman Lucas Naso; and receiver Nathan Lund.
Also, James Dowdall of the Coquitlam Falcons Midget squad is pencilled in at the receiver spot.
Last year, B.C. returned after a 10-year hiatus in the Cup tournament and beat Nova Scotia 33-3 to place third, while Saskatchewan bounced Quebec 18-10 in the gold-medal battle.
