Killamarsh youngsters win medals for Great Britain at Junior Olympics

Alex Downs and Callum Reid, both 13, and 12-year-olds Sam Jones and Kieron Hannon – four members of under 12s roller hockey club Killamarsh Khaos – represented Great Britain in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games.

The international tournament was staged at the Tyler Centre in Detroit and featured teams from all over the world. The GB team was the only one from Europe, battling it out against teams from Hong Kong, the US and Canada.

Alex’s dad Dave Downs, 42, who also coaches the Killamarsh U12s, said the lads had beaten an experienced field to qualify past the group stage and reach the semi-finals.

He said: “They’ve come back with a medal so we’re very happy. The North American teams just play at another level out there. They’ve been skating since they were two or three and they were twice the size of our guys. I don’t know what they feed them!”

Dave, of Kestrel Close, Eckington, who was once a defender for the 1980s ice hockey side Sheffield Knights, can see his son going on to great things.

He said: “He’s already a better player than I ever was. I’m very proud.”

The trip to Detroit wraps up a year in which Killamarsh Khaos U12s won the British Inline Puck Hockey Association Central League, and the national inline hockey championship.

They overcame six other teams from around the UK to take the title, defeating Scottish side Torbain Tigers 2-0 in the final.

Tyler Lowe-Fowler, 12, a member of the side’s stalwart defence, said the championship victory had come as a surprise.

He said: “We certainly weren’t expecting to win.”

But club chairman Rod Stevens said team spirit within the side was what had seen them through.

He said: “There are some excellent players, but the main factor in their success is they play very well as a team. They pass the puck around incredibly quickly for boys of such a young age, which is the key to success. We’re incredibly proud of what the boys have managed to achieve.”