Six Harborne Flyerz players were selected to play in the England Hockey Intellectual Disability Team (ID) who competed at the Euro Hockey ID Championships 2022 in Amsterdam, from 6-9 July.

Hockey ID is the adapted format of hockey for players with an intellectual disability and is played 6-a-side across half a traditional hockey pitch.

The Championships took place at Pinoke Hockey Club, with the finals being held at Wagener Stadium. This is the national stadium of the Dutch Hockey Federation and the location of the FIH Women’s World Cup.

The Harborne players selected are:
* Reece Brackpool (Captain)
* Jerome Browne
* Jordan Chandler
* Matthew Lane
* Jason Nicholls
* Benjamin Twells

The other players in the team were:
* Oliver White – Tunbridge Wells HC
* Tom Beard (GK) – Ashby HC
* Robert Crosse – Wakefield HC
* Thomas Shaw – Wakefield HC

On Day 1, the team played five games and won them all:

England 5-2 Ireland [(Brackpool (11), Lane (18), Crosse (21, 22), Nicholls (24))]
England 5-3 Czech Republic [(Lane (5, 25), Browne (9), Crosse (15, 19))]
England 3-0 Ireland [(White (3), Shaw (12), Crosse (25))]
England 2-1 France [(Shaw (7), Crosse (25))]
England 3-0 Czech Republic [(Lane (10), Brackpool (20), Crosse (21))]

On Day 2, the team remained undefeated:

England 4-0 Czech Republic [Crosse (17, 21), Shaw (19), White (21) ]
England 4-0 France [Brackpool (2), Shaw (4), Crosse (14), White (16)]
England 3-1 Ireland [Chandler (5), Crosse (7), Lane (13+)]

After these wins, the team faced Ireland in the final to win ?GOLD ?

Ireland stomped their mark on the game by scoring in the first minute.

This was followed by two penalties from Thomas Shaw in the third and sixth minutes, a field goal from the Captain Reece Brackpool in the 11th minute and a final goal of the competition for Rob Crosse in the 16th minute. Final score 4-1.

What an amazing achievement from these players.

It couldn’t happen without their parents and carers and the staff, so a massive thank you to Jason, Steve, Jayne and Lochlann.

Looking forward to what 2022-23 brings for these players.