Rhys Edwards as an England player (photo by EIHA) |
Rhys Edwards was one of the leading players in the Wild senior NIHL team last season but, as he was only 16 at the start of the campaign, he has also been eligible to be selected for junior representative teams. He was joined on the trip by Wild NIHL player Kohen Taylor and Gabriel Lingard, who iced once for Widnes as a back up netminder last season.
A group of England Under 16 and Under 17 players made the trip to take part in the 3-day tournament that saw them play against national teams from Ireland and Scotland, a Czech select side and also a local Slovak junior team from the host Homoikovo rink.
Wild Academy Head Coach and Widnes NIHL player Mike Gilbert also accompanied the England team as a member of the coaching staff.
Edwards, Taylor and Lingard join an ever growing list of Widnes Wild players who have been have been given England call ups, following in the footsteps of Sophia Green who played for England girls in Bratislava earlier in the year, Jared Knowles - who played in a Scotland v England tournament - and Matty Barlow who played for England U23s against Denmark last season.