Patrick Rooney and Georgina Kennedy have been selected to represent Team England in the squash competition at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa in September.
The teenage pair will join 1,000 other 14 to 18-year-olds competing at the Games in Apia, the capital of Samoa, between September 5 and 11, when two sporting complexes will play host to swimming, archery, athletics, boxing, lawn bowls, rugby sevens, tennis, weightlifting and squash.
Kennedy, the 18-year-old from Kent, said: “I feel very honoured to be selected and I’m excited about the prospect of being part of such a big event.
“I am looking forward to being part of a mixed sporting event. Whilst I have played for England before, I have never played in a multi-sport event where I will be a part of a larger England team that consists of athletes from many different sports.”
The Games will give Rooney (left) and Kennedy the chance to get a taste for international multi-sport competition, with the aim of following in the footsteps of English squash stars Nick Matthew and Laura Massaro, respectively gold and silver medallists at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Kennedy added: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to give me exposure to a major event at a junior level, and if I am lucky enough to ever be selected for the senior Commonwealth Games, I think it will be great preparation for that.
“Because squash isn’t currently an Olympic sport, to play at the Commonwealth Games is the pinnacle of achievement and this opportunity will really give me a taste of what it is like to participate at such an event.
“The opening and closing ceremonies, and having the opportunity to stay in an athletes’ village, is something I have never experienced before, so I am very much looking forward to it!”
Rooney, the 17-year-old Merseysider, added: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, made even more special because it is in a place like Samoa, where not many people get to visit.
“This will really help me to prepare for senior England events, because it is a high standard of competition and I will have to go about the event with a professional attitude.”