Darlington's highly talented juniors have been given expert tuition this week with a trio of England's stars providing coaching in a summer training camp.
England's former European champion John Hilton, and current English Women's champion Nicola Deaton are helping twice national Men's champion Alan Cooke in an intensive five days which will give Darlington's kids an edge when the season starts in three weeks.
Darlington's head coach, Keith Wilson, stressed the importance of the coaching camp, saying: "This gives our youngsters an insight into what it takes to become a champion. The knowledge that John, Alan and Nicola will pass on is invaluable."
Last season saw many Darlington juniors moving rapidly up the national ranking lists. Two who caught the eye of the national coaches, David Meads and Mark Simpson, both 11, will begin the new campaign in the number four and six ranked places in the England Under 12 squad with many of their clubmates also helping Darlington to provide the whole of Durham County Under-17 and Under-14 team squads.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article