On Thursday 21st August the team departed from Stansted to Porto and return to England on Tuesday 26th August.During our trip to Portugal we had 6 training sessions and 4 games, of which 2 were against Portugal Schoolboys National Team. As with all the trips abroad the objective was to build the team on and off the rink, which we achieved as the team improved everyday during the 4 days preparation.

I am pleased that English Roller Hockey is becoming a more popular sport and we have more and more skilled players coming through. The decision to select players is not an easy one, as all players work hard at achieving the level required to play for England, but the Coaches and I have to make the selection for what we believe is the best for England.

Arthur and I are very pleased with the improvement of the team during our stay in Feira and we look forward to achieving our best in Italy.

I would like to announce that the Final Squad for European Schoolboys Championship in Bassano-Italy from 8th to 13th September 2008 are:

1- Kristoff White (Herne Bay)
2- Daniel Butcher (Herne Bay) Vice-Captain
3- Alex Lasala (Quevert-France)
4- Nic Johnson (Grimsby) Captain
5- Nick Flint (Peterborough)
6- Richard Claxton (Peterborough)
7- Liam Conroy (Bury)
8- Han Wei Lim (Peterborough)
9- Peter Marshall (Farnham)
10- Sam Cayley (Peterborough)

Manager: Keith Allen
Head Coach: Carlos Amaral
Assistant Coach: Arthur Corr