Young roller hockey players head to LA

Molly Smith
BBC News, North East and Cumbria
Northern Edge Sports Three boys, Leo, Harry and Archie, standing next to each other at a rink. The one on the far left, wearing a blue and white jersey, has light brown hair. The other two are both in matching gold and white jerseys and have dark hair. All three are smiling.Northern Edge Sports
Leo, Harry and Archie will be travelling to a tournament in Los Angeles

A trio of boys from north-east England have been selected to compete in a roller hockey tournament in the United States.

Archie, Leo and Harry will be playing with some of the best players in their age category from around the world in the North American Roller Hockey Championships in Los Angeles.

Northern Edge Sports, which is located in Newcastle, has the only roller rink in the North East.

Coach Paul Watson praised the boys' dedication and hard work to the sport, adding: "They spend many hours a week at the rink, they give everything to the sport and now they're being rewarded for their hard work".

Mr Watson started training children during the 2020 lockdown when ice rinks were shut.

He said: "Myself and the other coaches came together and set up some hockey for the kids in the car park and then, in the last five years, it has just expanded into having an indoor rink and setting up a roller hockey programme.

"The last roller rink we had in North East was 20 years ago, but that closed which is why we brought one back.

"So hopefully, we will have leagues set up in the North."

BBC News Archie is a young, fair-skinned boy with blonde hair wearing a black jersey with white on the neck. He is standing in the roller rink with a side wall behind him.BBC News
Archie said his goal was to move to America to continue playing roller hockey

Mr Watson said: "The ambition for these boys is to turn this hobby into a career and get them to play at a professional level.

"These boys stand out due to their dedication, they give everything to this sport."

Archie, 12, said: "I'm so excited to compete with some of the best players around the world.

"It's such an amazing achievement."

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