Nottingham trio shine on the ice to take bronze in Riga
THREE Nottingham Ice Hockey Club juniors have returned from Europe’s largest junior ice hockey tournament with bronze medals after representing Great Britain as part of the U-16 men’s team.
It is the highest position Great Britain have come in this tournament.
Alexander Rushby, Samuel Miller and Kingston Mckenzie were chosen from the trials that commenced last July to be part of the team travelling to Riga, in Latvia.
It was Samuel’s third GB call-up, and Kingston’s second. He is the youngest player in the 22-strong squad. Both Samuel and Kingston recently travelled to South Korea as part of the Great Britain ice hockey team at the Winter Youth Olympics.
Nottingham Ice Hockey Club head coach Paul Glossop said: “We are so proud of our players’ achievement in the Riga Cup. They are following in the footsteps of past and present Nottingham GB players, some of which were on the ice here in Nottingham last weekend with the GB Seniors team who played Poland with a 2-1 victory after penalty shots. “All three of the boys, along with their GB teammates did their country proud in a top-ranked tournament to achieve a bronze medal for their efforts.
“They arrived back in the country late Monday evening, and they are so committed to the sport that they were back on the ice after school on Tuesday evening for team practice.
“For Sam, Alex and Kingston, they have logged a huge number of miles this year both home and abroad, and as a club we will support them every step of the way.
“Alex and Sam continued their quest of playing top-level hockey with a recent trip to Helsinki for England U-16s”.
Nottingham Ice Hockey Club has players from as young as five going along to their training sessions, and many continue in the club into their senior years. The three boys train up to four times a week for their club and have a busy schedule of games most weekends. In preparation for the tournament, they had additional full-day training sessions with the Great Britain squad.
The Riga Hockey Tournament aims to provide a challenge for players from all over the world. The standard of play is exceptionally high, and arguably the highest standard junior teams will play in Europe. This year, the U-16 division had teams from Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Poland, Sweden and Estonia in the 14- team tournament.
Kingston, 14, said “It is an honour to put on a Great Britain jersey and represent your country. As a team we played really well against some talented opposition and it is rewarding to bring home a bronze medal.
“I am keen to be a part of this team moving forwards and I believe with the right structure and support from Ice Hockey UK we can deliver on the world stage in the coming years”.
Great Britain head coach Jamie Elson said “Over the course of the year the group has worked hard at the camps and we like what we’ve seen both on and off ice. We have some really good talent here and hard-working athletes, but we’ve also seen some great character and attitude amongst this group”.
Trials for Nottingham Ice Hockey Club commence on May 20 for next season’s squads. For further information email info@nihc.co.uk.