The King’s School’s fantastic five have all been selected for the England Hockey elite Performance Centre Development programme
Three girls Lottie Dennet, Izzy Moores and Flossie Blackwell have made the grade at under-17 level, even though they are all still only 15, while Scarlett Brough and Lara Tabachnik, who are both 14, have been selected at under 15 level.
The five girls were first selected for the local Junior Development Centre, then the county Junior Academy Centre and are now at regional level, in one of 17 regional centres of excellence, aiming for selection for the North of England and then onto the England squads.
The girls, who all play for Alderley Edge Hockey Club, alongside their mentor King’s Hockey coach Sarah Hopkin, have been part of two very strong King’s teams: the under 14 team going to the North of England Finals and the under 15s about to go to the county finals at under 16 level.
Pictured from left to right are Lottie Dennet, a superb playmaker able to dominate anywhere across midfield; Scarlett Brough, a versatile, tenacious terrier in midfield and attack, Lara Tabachnik, another hugely versatile talent with strong stick skills able to play in defence and midfield and forward; Izzy Moores, a superb ball player and athlete who plays in defence, midfield and attack as needed and the fleet-footed, speed merchant, Flossie Blackwell, a creative talent on the flanks.
Sarah Hopkin said: “We have some extraordinarily good players, in particular at these age levels, who are backed up by a very talented pool of players, that it is a joy to coach. These girls will now get an extra 88 hours of top class coaching to assist further their development. Our gold medal winning Olympians have certainly given youth hockey a major boost nationwide.”