Jacob will now be part of the team that represents the Midlands who will fly out to compete in a conferencing in Latvia in April 2009, where they will compete with teams form Russia, Sweden, Norway and Latvia. The Midlands elite team will then play in a conference in Hull in May 2009 with teams from the North, South, and East, and hopefully regain the title and win gold.

Jacobs’s dad John Flowers said: “Jacob has been playing ice hockey for only two years, and is currently only in his second league season. He has come a long way in the sport with the support from his coach Paul Woodhouse.

“We are so proud of Jacob, he has worked so hard for this opportunity with training four times a week, he is a inspiration to his younger siblings Yasmin and Joshua who also play hockey for the Nottingham Pumas and they now both hope to follow in his footsteps.

Woodhouse said: “He has a natural talent for the sport which shows not only in his commitment to training but also in his passion on the ice.”

Jacobs’s parents are looking for any local businesses who may want to step up and offer their support to Jacob in way of a sponsorship and they can contact the family at a.flowers33@ntlworld.com.

l Sutton Stings senior U18 team trailed 2-0 and then led twice before having to settle for a hard-fought 4-4 draw against Coventry Blaze at the Sky Dome.

Sting trailed 2-0 at the first interval but hit back to lead only for Blaze to tie it up again with a penalty shot before the end of an ill-tempered period.

Sting immediately went in front again on the power play as the penalties continued to stack up.

And it was a controversial penalty call four minutes from the end which gave Coventry the power play they needed to force the draw.

Callum Rose and Jordan Bodfield grabbed two goals apiece.

l Sting U12s hosted Newcastle on Sunday and over half the team scored goals in a superb 18-4 win.

The game was all but over after a 9-1 first period, then it was 13-4 after two before adding five unanswered goals in the final period.

New boy between the posts Jacob Bown took Spirit of the Game award and the goals were shared between Charlie Saunders, Cory Martin, Charlie Chappell, Owen Lawton, Curtis Lee, Joseph Smith, Nathan Bower, Joe Cross, and Morgan Matveev.

l Sutton Sting U10s battled hard but couldn’t overturn a first period 6-1 deficit against visiting Newcastle Vipers Academy team.

It was much closer in periods two (6-4) and three (4-3) but Vipers held out to win 16-8.

Sting scorers were Cameron Glasby (3), Lewis King (3), Ben Jesson and James Spencer.

All in all this was not a bad result for the Sting against an Academy team based within an Elite League set up.