Dauphin’s Julien Lopez was selected as Rugby Manitoba’s Male Junior Player of the Year for 2024.

Lopez was surprised when he learned of the honour from his father Gerald late one night.

“Just excitement and gratefulness to be able to play at the Summer Games and be able to win it,” he said.

Lopez helped the  Dauphin Clippers win their first Westman High School League championship, as well as a silver medal at provincials.

And he captained Team West Green to gold at the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games. Lopez also recently played with a team from British Columbia.

“I got a lot of experience and help from the great coaches up there,” he said, adding he also hopes to play on the U17 provincial team.

Lopez played with MacDowell Rugby at the Global Youth Sevens in New Zealand, which was an eye opener for him.

“I can tell you it’s a step up from Canada. Those kids are massive. You wouldn’t believe they’re teenagers. It’s quite scary, honestly,” he said.

“The competition, you just level up along side with them. I’m excited to come back and play with my Dauphin team, my true home team.”

Lopez is looking forward to passing along what he learned to his Clippers teammates.

“Those coaches really helped, so I hope that I can transfer those words along to aid my own teammates who didn’t have that opportunity,” he said.

The goal, Lopez said, is to one day play for Team Canada.

“That’s the dream goal, actually. Rugby is my favourite sport, so if I go somewhere with any sport, I hope it’s rugby and Team Canada. But there’s a lot of good players out there,” he said.