FOUR players, in the shape of Floyd Taylor, Ollie Betteridge, Callum Buglass and Glenn Billing, got a taste of playing for their country this week and while it is a huge honour for them it is also a proud moment for the club.

To represent your country at the highest level for that age group is great for them. They are gaining experience playing senior hockey and they are getting an awful lot of experience when they are playing within their own age group against some of the teams they play.

Ryan likes to have a good mix of youth and more senior players and certainly with some of the younger players we signed, it is not a massive surprise that the Swindon Wildcats are well-represented.

It is kind of strange to think about how young they are because when I look at them, I don’t see players who are under the age of 20 and are inexperienced. They are just part of the team.

Ollie has been playing really well and getting some points and Floyd obviously had a bit of a set-back with the concussion but he has come back in and looks like he is flying again.

While Callum plays as if he has been playing for ten years, rather than just starting his career.

Last weekend was a really good game for us against Invicta Dynamos because we managed to get out to quick lead and it was the first opportunity for those younger players to play without the pressure, so they relaxed into the game and showed the fans what they are capable of - and Glenn in particular had a great day.

Some of the more senior players give them advice, like on defence, Kenton (Smith) and (Shane) Moore give Callum advice.

For Floyd, Ollie and Glenn, they are playing on lines with Jonas Hoog and Aaron Nell, so playing around them you just get better by osmosis, just because they do the right thing every time.

The more youth players you have coming through, the better.

They all work really hard and are extremely keen to break into the side, which puts a bit of pressure on the current players.