Ice Hockey UK and England Ice Hockey are excited to announce a joint partnership, which saw Great Britain’s U16s women share the ice yesterday with the England National Team Programme’s (ENTP) U13s boys and U13s girls at Lee Valley.

GB’s U16s women are undergoing their final preparations for the Evolve Tournament in Amsterdam in May, while England Ice Hockey’s U13s boys travel to Quebec for a tournament in February.

The two sides shared the ice across the day and took part in a scrimmage game too.

It was a great opportunity for both sides to share resources, which included coaching staff, with new GB U16 women’s head coach Reg Wilcox also involved in the England National Team Programme.

“This is a great opportunity for the two programmes to work together, and for our youngest players to see what is expected of them at the higher level,” said Wilcox.

“This will also help us create a continuous development pathway for female players to help them prepare for the next steps.

“I am excited for this event and we look forward to working with our other home nation partners to host events in the future.”

England Ice Hockey elite player pathway GM Ben Pitchley said: “It’s a no-brainer for both programmes to pull together for an event like this, and is a great start to our joined-up approach with IHUK going forward.

“When Rachel Gay put this to me a few months ago, it just made so much sense. With coaches and leaders in both camps – and the GB16s girls needing an additional ice session – we felt this was a great opportunity to pool resources across the day.”