The Morley Glass Leeds Knights would like to congratulate the Leeds Junior Knights U14s, on winning the Division 1 Northern Championship!

Leeds Junior Knights U14s have won the Division 1 Northern Championship, after a 6-2 win in Nottingham last Sunday. This victory represents a huge step for a club that was only formed 18 months ago! It means that that group of players are now going to compete in the National Finals in Sheffield this coming May, for the right to be called Champions.

This highlights the remarkable growth of the junior club in a very short space of time working alongside the Knights, the Leeds Junior Knights have grown massively since its inception going from just a handful of members at their first trials to now having seven teams across the age groups – with 120 players on their books.

The exciting thing is the future, with plenty of growth ahead. Chairman Seth Bennett says “It’s been an amazing journey so far and we have plans in place to bring in a Girls U16s team over the summer if there’s enough interest giving us the opportunity to offer even more! The Knights are currently successful across all age groups, with teams from the U10s, U12s, two U14s, Division One and Division Two teams at U16s and an U18s side.”

The success of the team and the club so far is down to some hard-working volunteers, Head Coach Mike Forbes pay tribute to those volunteers saying “We’re very fortunate to have so many people that are willing to come down and help us put on the product that we do. I can’t speak highly enough of the coaches who give up hours and hours of their time to come down and help the kids but also on the weekends to travel up and down the country. With the Leeds Junior Knights having games anywhere from Whitley Bay to Solihull, to Telford, they happily give that time for free to go and help the next generation of Knights players play games and reach their potential.”

The Junior Knights are helped by Leeds Knights’ Goalie Coach Davey Lawrence, who looks after the younger end of the club and all of the goalies. Lawrence said – “When I heard about the junior Knights I wanted to get involved immediately and it’s been a way back into hockey for me. I’m so proud of the way that the clubs playing and the way that we are developing so many players all at the same time. We’ve just had three players playing for England in the prestigious Quebec PeeWee U13s tournament; Harry Marshall, Ben Elliot and Eva Rezaie. For the future we’ve got so many more players that are going to go on to fulfil their potential and play at representative level – whether that’s for England or GB. It won’t be too long until we start seeing the first of these junior players at a level that Ryan Aldridge will be thinking about their future with the Leeds Knights.”

The Junior Knights currently train anywhere between three and five hours a week, as well as taking part in several office sessions each week. It takes a huge amount of dedication and money for these players to be able to reach their potential but as things stand, things are looking good for the junior Knights future. Being a part of the Knights organisation is a huge benefit for everybody at both ends of the scale.

Steve Nell, Owner of the Leeds Knights said “First of all I want to congratulate the U14s on their First Division one league title and wish them the best of luck for the National Finals in May. It has been a pleasure to see the Leeds Junior Knights flourish and their growth has been spectacular. I’m excited for the future of the Junior Knights, as well as our relationship with them.”

Congratulations once again to the Leeds junior Knights on their First Division one league title after success in division two in their first season!