PUBLISHED 23 March 2022
Everyone at AKS is celebrating the announcement that ex-pupil Mollie M has been named in the 20 player England U21 Squad to take part in the Junior World Cup which takes place from 1 – 12 April in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Mollie has been further honoured by being named as a co vice-captain.
Since leaving school in 2019 Mollie has been part of the very successful University of Nottingham side and she has continued to be part of the GB U23 Elite Development Programme training regularly both remotely during lockdown and since then at Lilleshall National Sports Centre.
Being selected for the squad for the re-scheduled Junior World Cup is a fantastic and deserved reward for Mollie after all the hard work she has put in, both on the pitch and in the gym, and will it be Mollie’s first global tournament where she will experience playing teams from all over the World.
The teams’ first game will be a tough encounter against the host nation South Africa where they will face not only their opposition on the pitch but also a ‘home crowd’ in the stands. The second game will see the team take on Ireland followed by the Ukraine. Depending on results the team will then progress on to the latter stages with hopefully a semi-final on 10th April and Final on 12th April.
After finishing seventh at the last event in 2016, Mollie and her team will be hoping to improve on that. In the previous two events the women just missed out on a podium placing, finishing fourth in 2009 and 2013.
The World cup matches are :-
Pool fixtures
1 April England v South Africa 11am local time
2 April England v Ireland 7pm local time
4 April England v Ukraine 9am local time
If finishing first or second in pool:
8 April Quarter Finals
10 April Semi Finals
12 April Final / 3rd-4th play-off
If finishing third or fourth in pool:
7, 9 & 11 April Classification matches
All games will be available to watch free on the FIH’s Watch.Hockey app and website.