SWINDON youngster Troy Deane has kept his cool on the ice to win a place in the England Under 13s squad.

The Kingsdown School pupil had to come through a rigorous trial in Sheffield last month to secure his selection.

A group of close to 50 of the country’s top young skaters was whittled down to 23, with 12-year-old Deane also scheduled to attend a further trial this week where the final squad of 18 was to be confirmed, with the remaining five players acting as travelling reserves.

Deane started his fledgling ice hockey career with the Swindon Wildcats’ junior sides at the Link Centre but is now in the equivalent set-up at Bracknell and is also in contention to earn a place in the South East regional squad.

Troy’s mother, Collette, said: “We’re so proud. Troy’s been playing ice hockey since he was four and he absolutely loves it.

“The trials were a few weeks ago but we didn’t find out for a little while because we were away on holiday, so it was great news to come back to.

“He’d gone through the age groups at Swindon but about a year ago we just felt it was time to go somewhere new and all this has happened since then.

“Troy just wants to go as far as he can with it. If he had to choose between football and ice hockey then hockey would win hands down, but what he really wants to do in the future is be a mechanic.”