THE youth section at Winnington Park Hockey Club appears to be thriving.

With a large representation of players being chosen to represent East Cheshire this season, it is easy to see why.

Overall, 24 players from Winnington Park have been selected for the East Cheshire Academy Centre at age groups ranging from under 13s to under 17s.

Players are nominated for county development centres by their clubs or schools, with county coaches then deciding which of those are invited to the academy centres.

The Winnington Park players selected are as follows:

Under 13s: Oliver Curry, Matthew Ross, Sam Maddock, Arlo Curran, Oisín Moloney-Pugh, Jack Webster

Under 14s: Dominic Evanson, Jamie Bell, Oliver Kinder, Sophie Bott, Charlotte Critchley

Under 15s: Thomas Johnson, Anna Smith, Sonia Rushton, Lily Knight, Poppy Curran, Rachel Middlebrook

Under 16s: Oliver Smith, Peter Haffenden, Isabel Robinson, Alice Webster

Under 17s: Declan Lamb, Ryan Whalley, Isobel Sanders

Meanwhile, the club’s senior teams braved some icy conditions in this weekend’s matches.

The men’s firsts were 3-1 winners over Oxton after recovering from a slow start, with Dan Hilton and Pete Haffenden putting them 2-0 up either side of half time.

Oxton halved the deficit from a short corner, but Chris Moss netted to round off the scoring and the win for Park.

The women’s firsts had a chilly trip to the coast to face Southport and came away with a 1-1 draw.

Nicola Hall’s equaliser from a short corner ensured they went home with a share of the spoils.

Liam Mackee continued his scoring spree for the men’s thirds, with his goal securing a 1-1 draw against Knutsford, while the women’s seconds conceded a late goal to lose 1-0 at Wilmslow.