Andrew
is 16 years old and is from Darlington. He excels in the sport of ice hockey
which he has being playing since he was just 7 years old.
Andrew has a string of achievements to his name such as playing for England
under 13, under 14 and under 15's squad for which he was the assistant captain,
playing in the Northern Conference Regional team and being captain for the
Midlands Under 15's team.
However, Andrew's parents were finding the cost of funding his competitions
and attending England squad training twice a week at Sheffield difficult,
especially with three other children to provide for. In order to ensure that
Andrew could continue to train, we provided him with a contribution of £648.
The grant enabled Andrew to pay for a new kit including shorts, helmet, England
strip and tracksuit and travel costs which enabled him to attend an international
competition in Fussen, Germany.
Update: April 2008
Andrew
got in touch to let us know how he got on: 'The England team got
through to the quarter finals of the competition in Germany.'
On return from Fussen, Andrew attended the England team training camp in Chelmsford
where he was approached by some training scouts from America. The scouts asked
if Andrew would like to go to an American Showcase which could lead to him
being drafted for a team in the NHL (National Hockey League) if he played
well. At the time, Andrew was still studying for his GCSE's and wanted to
finish school so he declined the offer.
However, as the offer remained open he did go a year later and was
selected to join a team in the NHL. Andrew now plays for Columbus Blue Jackets
who have just won the State Championships.
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