The North West U16s Boys’ team had a very successful Inter-Regional Championships at Millfield School, Somerset for their future development. Due to Covid restrictions it was the first time that they had the opportunity to play together and they did remarkably well considering the obstacles that they have had to overcome both personally and collectively, especially, Oliver Salimbeni who was voted, not only North West’s but also, the Overall Most Valuable Player of the Championships.

The team won three of their four matches to finish second to Ireland in Group A thereby qualifying for both the semi-finals and Division 1 for the U18 Championships in 2024. They won their semi-final 15-7 versus East Midlands who had topped Group B. They lost for a second time to Ireland, 9-7, in the Final in a very close match to clinch the silver medals.

All the boys made remarkable progress throughout with the team improving on each successive match showing great fighting spirit in coming back twice from 4 goals down to win matches. Thanks to Head Coach, Tom Grieve, and his Assistant, Ant McGuinness, for all their time and effort in preparing the team from scratch to such a high standard in a short period of time and to the parents for their logistical and vocal support.