Three wildcard selections have completed the England squad for the European Youth Championships in Croatia in July.
Amy Marriott (Junior Girls), Ben Piggott (Junior Boys) and James Hamblett (Cadet Boys) join Charlotte Bardsley, who qualified automatically for the Junior Girls category, and those athletes who earned their places via the Cadet play-offs and Junior play-offs earlier this month.
The full squad is:
Cadet Boys: Connor Green, Jakub Piwowar, James Hamblett
Cadet Girls: Anna Green, Maliha Baig
Junior Boys: Louis Price, Amirul Hussain, Joe Cope, Ben Piggott
Junior Girls: Charlotte Bardsley, Jasmin Wong, Mari Baldwin, Amy Marriott
Programme Manager Matt Stanforth said: “The last 12 to 14 months have been incredibly challenging for all and has forced us to change our approach in many different areas. For this year’s championship, taking into consideration the lack of competition that has taken place, we introduced a play-off element to our process which has taken place over the last two weekends.
“These have been highly competitive and has been great to see our Juniors and Cadets fighting hard to earn a place in the England team.
“The lack of international competition going into the championships has not been ideal, however we have focused on what we can control and influence and these play-offs, along with the upcoming Junior National Cup and National Championships, will provided much needed competition for the players.
“I would like to say a big well done to all the players who competed in the play-off competition and congratulate all the players who have gained selections to the squad for this year’s championship.”
The event in Varazdin starts with the Junior (U19) events from July 18-24, followed by the Cadet (U15) competitions from July 27 to August 2.