It's hard to fathom joining a sport, and then just a few months later having aspirations that it could one day take you to the Olympics.

But Jordan Best of Abbotsford is trying to do just that.

Best, a Grade 11 student at Robert Bateman Secondary, has been playing rugby sevens, a moderation of the standard 15-man version of rugby, for less than a calendar year, but that hasn't stopped him from thinking towards the future; representing his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He got one step closer to that dream last week.

Best was named to the 24-man roster of the B.C. Elite Youth Sevens rugby team that will travel to Nevada for the 2011 Las Vegas Invitational beginning Feb. 11.

"It's a pretty cool feeling, knowing that the Olympics are in 2016 and this is kind of a first step towards that," said Best.

"It's always been my dream to go to the Olympics for Canada, but it was always kind of a long shot with [15s rugby]."

Best is not alone in his quest for the 2016 Games.

The B.C. Rugby Union created the elite program with that very thought in mind - to train young athletes, who will all be in their early-to-mid 20s when the Rio Games roll around, in the art of rugby sevens for the chance at Olympic glory.

Since the summer of 2010, head coach Shane Thompson has been running identification camps, as well as a 37-player selection camp Jan. 7 to 9 in Victoria, looking for athletes he believed could prove to be an asset down the road.

Thompson noticed Best right away.

"He was always ready to go, he's got a smile on his face when he's working and he works hard," said Thompsons.

"He's a very good rugby player and I think there's quite a bit of potential in him, not only just for this trip to Vegas but looking further down the road."

Rugby sevens, which has been around since 1883 but grown exponentially in popularity over the last two decades, will premier at the 2016 Games. Best said he has noticed a growth in the sport here at home, especially since the Abbotsford Rugby Sevens tournament began two years ago.

"I found that since the Abbotsford Sevens tournament, people have started to pay more attention to it," he said.

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