Great Britain Under-18s held a two-day camp in Sheffield this week as they continue their preparations for next year’s World Championship.
The under-18s will travel to Tallinn from 3rd to 9th April to face hosts Estonia, along with Lithuania, Romania, Korea and Serbia in Division II Group A.
The squad underwent six hours of intensive on-ice training at Ice Sheffield as well as classroom-based sessions.
National Development Head Coach, Tony Hand, said: “It was great to see so many good young players over the two days.
“We had some players missing because of mandatory government isolation requirements, but everyone who did attend can take a lot from the camp.
“The intensity was high and the players really benefitted from the on and off-ice sessions.
“I really feel the coaches will have some difficult decisions when selecting the team for Estonia as the level of players throughout the camp was extremely high.”
The squad attended a mental performance workshop with John McAllister from Mental Performance Hockey.
John worked with the players to highlight the importance of the mental side in hockey, the mindset and habits needed to reach the very top – and the common mental attributes shared by elite athletes.
Throughout the two-day workshop, the players were shown a number of techniques to help them improve their mental performance and overcome any challenges they come up against.
GB U18 manager, Russell Huxted, said: “We are always looking for areas where we can support our prospect player on and off the ice.
“With the pressure of playing for the national team and the intensively of a World Championship, it is critical that our players are mentally prepared to allow them to perform at their highest level consistently.
“Having John with us for the two days has been really helpful to start educating the players on how they can improve their game by using tools to prepare mentally. I would like to thank John for agreeing to support us at our final selection camp.”
