GB call up for Billingham Youngster
Photograph supplied by Evening Gazette
A 16 year old Billingham youngster has been selected for the Great Britain Under 18 Ice Hockey squad. Jimmy Moutrey a member of Tees Active Sports Academy plays for Billingham Bombers and battled his way through 2 intensive trials held in Newcastle and Sheffield to make the squad of 22 of the best young ice hockey players in the country.
Jimmy, a left winger will now be training hard to make the final squad of 19 who will be competing at the World Championships in Sonok, Poland next April. The Great Britain team will be competing against the top 16 Ice Hockey nations in the world so the competition will be of the very highest standard.
Jimmy is currently studying Advanced Construction at Hartlepool College of Further Education and first starting playing ice hockey as a 6 year old. This is not surprising as Jimmy’s father Alan played Ice Hockey for the Bombers between 1977 and 1990 and then took over as coach for a period in the early nineties
The Billingham teenager who has been playing for the England Under 19 team will be training hard as he prepares to impress the Great Britain coaching staff at a training camp in Sheffield at the end of the month
Proud father Alan said, “Jimmy has done really well to impress the GB coaches as he can actually play for 2 years at this level. Hopefully he will make the final cut, as playing at the World Under 18 Championships will be a tremendous experience and will assist in his development as an Ice Hockey player”
For the moment Jimmy will be focusing on helping the Bombers overcome Solway this Sunday at Billingham Forum, face off 6.15pm
For further information on Ice Hockey and skating contact Billingham Forum on (01642) 551381.