Five of the younger Solway Sharks Junior players were in action representing Scotland in a cross-border tournament at Dumfries ice bowl at the weekend, acquitting themselves well against the best players in the UK.
The tournament, a warm-up for the annual National Conference competition to be held in Sheffield in May, gave the Scottish U11 and U13 National Team coaches a chance to see their squad players in action before naming their final team selections later this month, while the U15 and U17 squads were at their monthly development day in Dundee.
The U13 team Sharks contingent comprised of defencemen William Daley and Owen Rae, netminder Logan Reid, and forwards Cassie McGregor and Bailey Thomson, who all impressed as the team notched up victories over South West, South East, Northern and drew with Midlands to top the table. Bailey led the points scoring, adding four goals to the team total.
Scottish Ice Hockey chairman David Hand said, “These events are a great way for our junior teams to prepare for the big Conference Weekend in Sheffield in May. We’re absolutely delighted to see the U13 team finish top of their group in Dumfries and would like to congratulate everyone involved on their achievement. Our U11s also did themselves proud, and they look well on track to make an impression in Sheffield.”
Solway Chair Leanne Thomson added, “It is a great achievement for a club the size of ours to be so well represented at National level – every year we punch above our weight in terms of players selected for Scotland, and hopefully this year the trend will continue. As well as the players in the U13 squad who were strutting their stuff in Dumfries, we also have Scott Kirkpatrick and Gregor Mills in the U15s squad and Scott Rae in the U17s squad. All the Sharks players do themselves and the club proud with their effort and enthusiasm, and they are all in with a great shout of making their respective teams and are just waiting for the Scotland coaches final selections to be announced.”
