St Joseph's Nudgee College

February 17, 2009

St Joseph's Nudgee College Old Boy Eric Sewell has been selected in the Australian National Youth Ice Hockey Team to compete at the World Championships in Chinese Taipei.

The 2008 Old Boy is following in the footsteps of 2007 Old Boy Alex Hall who has been a member of the team for the past 2 years. Alex will not play in the Youth team this year due to his age. 

"I am very excited about making the team because I tried twice and was knocked back twice," Eric said.

"I was a reserve and came up when two other players pulled out so it’s great."

Originally from Canada, Eric has been playing ice hockey since he was 4 years old.

"I started playing because my parents said I had too. They said I couldn’t play anything else so I said okay."

Eric's selection in the National Youth Team came after both he and Alex represented Queensland at the National Championships in Melbourne last August.

"It was really good playing with Alex as we were on the same line. It was like playing with friends instead of guys who I didn’t know."

Eric's official representative duties began with a week-long training camp in Newcastle in January this year. He will again travel to Newcastle later this week for a final training camp, where the team will play against a composite Australian Ice Hockey League team, as preparation for the World Championships.

The World Championships’ round robin format means Australia will play matches against the four other teams in Division III with the winner advancing up to Division II next year. 

Eric is looking forward to the World Championships and expects Australia to do well.

"We are seeded number 1 so everyone expects us to win. We should do pretty well although New Zealand will be a challenge as they always make sure they play their best against Australia."

The World Championships run from February 27 - March 6.