Six junior players from Ely City Hockey Club are celebrating after making it through to a regional academy.

The Ely players have made it to the England Hockey Cambridgeshire Development Centre and subsequent trials, to gain a place in the Cambridgeshire Junior Academy.

Owen and Ziggy will be joining the U15 squad whilst Annabelle, Xenia and Alexandra will be joining the U14 squad and Zara the U13 squad.

David Carford, Ely City’s head coach, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and we are very proud of them all.

“They have been training with Ely City Juniors for a number of years now and have worked really hard to develop their skills and game play.

“They will really benefit from the coaching and experience that they will gain from being a part of the Academy Centres and we do hope that they really enjoy it.”

David is also celebrating having been shortlisted as Anglia Ruskin University coach of the year with the Living Sport Sports Awards 2018.

He coaches the juniors and adults at Ely City Hockey Club, is also a Cambridgeshire Academy coach and coached last year’s U13 girls squad to victory in the plate competition and second place in the cup competition in the East Anglian Academy Championships.

This was against squads from Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Essex.

The Awards Ceremony is at the Burgess Hall in St Ives on November 22.

This annual event brings people together to recognise and celebrate the brilliant sporting achievements of the many talented athletes, officials, coaches, volunteers, organisations and clubs in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Nominations are made by the general public with a judging panel made up of Carol Gronow, trustee of Living Sport, Rebecca Evans, relationship manager of Living Sport.

Representing the sponsors Paralympian Dan GordonN from Anglia Ruskin University and the media partner representative Steve Jackson from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.