Merritt teen Brittany Brabant is in California playing rugby with the provincial under-17 girls team.

Brabant, 17, left for Anaheim in the Golden State on Sunday. Between then and Aug. 18, when the team returns to British Columbia, Brabant and her fellow players will face several Los Angeles-area rugby clubs.

She was selected for the B.C. under-17 girls team after two weekend tryouts in June. (Brabant explained that girls born in 1992 or later could try out.)

“There was about 50 people there and only 28 got chosen,” recalled Brabant in a phone interview from California Tuesday.

Several days after the second set of tryouts, Brabant found out by email she made the team.

“I was in the grocery store and I, like, freaked out,” said Brabant.

This is Brabant's first season with the provincial team, but she has been a member of the Merritt secondary school team for years. “I've played since Grade 9 and last year I was captain,” said Brabant, who is about to start Grade 12.

Brabant also played baseball in school, but gave up that sport so she could devote more time to rugby. “I like rugby way more and try to get farther with that.”

Asked to explain her passion for the sport, she said, “I think it's the kind of sport I'd play. I don't know. I just like it a lot more.”

The B.C. team will play matches against Fullerton Club, Hawaiian Garden, Fallbrook, and Thousand Oaks, all rugby teams based in and around Los Angeles, while in California.

The B.C. team will also take time to visit some quintessential Californian landmarks when they are not either practising or competing, including Disneyland, Universal Studios, and the beach.

This is Brabant's second rugby trip to California. She travelled to the state with her school team when she was in Grade 9.

The matches will be the first time the British Columbians play together, though Brabant notes that she already knew some of her teammates.

“I knew some people from Vancouver because I played on a Vancouver team before and I knew my friend from Williams Lake, just ‘cause I knew her.”

After their California tour, Brabant and the team will practise together and with the senior B.C. women's team once a month.

Since the team will change its entry requirements and will accept players up to 18 years old next year, if the coaches like what they see at practise, she could make the team again.

And if she does, Brabant will have the chance to travel again, this time to the United Kingdom.

Until then, she can look forward to playing rugby in an even more exotic location. Brabant and her school team will take a trip to Fiji next year.