Five players from Stroud are currently competing in the under-17s European Handball Championship in the capital of Kosovo, Pristina.
Amy Jones, Esme Kelly, Olivia King, Elizabeth Hill and Amy Barrett have spent the last two years preparing for the competition. All are members of Stroud Handball Club and play for their school teams – Stroud High School and Pates Grammar School.
The participating teams are divided into two preliminary round groups. Group A features hosts Kosovo, Finland, Latvia and Bulgaria, while group B consists of Italy, Israel, Ukraine and Great Britain.
The GB u17 women got their EHF Championship underway with a challenging game against Israel. Despite a strong defensive performance in the first half, technical errors in attack led to numerous fast break opportunities for Israel, who went into half time with a 22-8 lead.
The second half saw a much-improved performance from the British team, with more composure and accuracy in attack. As a result, the second half was much more competitive with Israel finally taking the game 37-20. Player of the Match was Zoe Salla with 8 saves
Scorers: Amy Jones 6; Aimee Jeffrey 3; Esme Kelly 3; Amy Barrett 2; Eliza Cutler 2; Zara Popham 1; Harriet Williams 1; Sofia Shorrock 1; Eszter Salla 1.
